


Out of Time (Bucky Barnes Edition)

by LucindaAM



Series: Out of Time [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Before Bucky "Dies" and becomes HYDRA, Bucky Finds her again 70 years in the future, Bucky and Reader meet in the 40s, Everything is almost the same, F/M, Just with Bucky, Keeping time frozen takes its toll on her, Light Swearing, My Fic "Out of Time" Bucky Edition, No Smut, She accidentally freezes herself in time, Slow Burn, So there's gonna be angst, Soulmate marks, Soulmates, Steve and Nat are Soulmates this time, There'll be plenty of fluff too, don't let the title fool you, this will have a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23486233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucindaAM/pseuds/LucindaAM
Summary: Seventy years ago, Bucky met the woman who shared the same soulmark he did. The two had a whirlwind romance but it was not to last. Bucky Barnes was doomed to fall off a train and spend the next seventy years in a HYDRA manufactured hell.Fast-forward seventy years, and Steve has successfully rescued his childhood best friend. But that's not the only person who's been lost to time over the years. Now the two friends and super-soldiers need to do everything in their power to save the one person who holds the key to the former Winter Soldiers heart and peace of mind.Will they do it? Or will they run out of time?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Series: Out of Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689721
Comments: 19
Kudos: 80





	1. Seeking Closure

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favorite Fic's that I've written to date is "Out of Time". It's the same concept, but from Steve's point of view. 
> 
> Then, the other day, I was watching a show that dealt with parallel worlds and I started wondering how the story would have been different if the story had been based on Bucky/Reader instead. This is my attempt to answer that question.
> 
> I'm going to tie it to the original story, so if you're a fan of Steve/Reader, be sure to check it out! Otherwise, enjoy the story :D

Bucky sat in the empty conference room, staring at his metal fist as he clenched it and unclenched it. Seventy years ago, back when the metal had still been flesh and he had just been James Buchanan Barnes, regular ol’ shmoe, he’d had a mark on his wrist. It was the same mark that his soulmate had. Now it was gone. Just like her. Erased. Just like him. 

Not everyone had a soulmate mark. They were rare. A connection “blessed by the gods” it was said. The few who did have them spent their lives searching for that other person. The one that would be their literal other half. 

The gears in Bucky’s metal arm ground together as he squeezed his fist tightly. How was he supposed to remember who he was when half of him was gone forever? 

What was worse is that he didn’t even have the mark anymore as a reminder of the happiness he had shared with you. Just the metal appendage that had made him such a monster in the first place. 

Once, not long after Steve had brought him back, Bucky had asked about you. He had ended up regretting it. Steve had buried himself in the water alongside the Tesseract before news had even reached you that Bucky had died so Steve didn’t know how you’d reacted to the news. But, ever the helpful friend that he was, Steve had gone digging to see what he could find about your life post-war. Steve had hoped that having closure would help Bucky just like hearing how Peggy had moved on had helped Steve. 

He’d been wrong. 

The only information that Steve had been able to uncover was that you had been brought into a reserves base to be told about Bucky’s death. The final report on your life indicated that while you’d been there, some kind of explosion had been triggered. All Bucky had left now were faded memories and a few vague lines. “Subject entered building. [Redacted]. Explosion [Redacted]. No survivors.” He didn’t even know which reserves base it had been. 

Bucky glanced at his metal wrist one last time before shoving the offending appendage in his jacket pocket as the rest of the team filed in to the room. He tried to ignore the pointed look Nat sent him or the concerned one Steve sent him. He knew they were worried about him, but this was a wound they couldn’t fix. 

“Alright, team. Listen up.” Steve said, walking to the front of the room as images appeared on the screen behind him. “We’ve got word of an awful lot of HYDRA activity focused around here.” Steve pointed at a map that appeared behind him. 

Bucky glanced at the information, his brain automatically going into soldier mode and cataloguing all the information on the screens. His eyes traced over the familiar landscape and his eyebrows drew together as he sat up in his chair. Steve’s eyes jerked in his direction. 

“Buck?” Steve asked, drawing everyone else's attention to the former Winter Soldier. 

“Is . . . is that Brampton?” Bucky asked almost hesitantly. 

Steve glanced at the screen and then back at his friend. “Yeah. You . . . you remember the place?” There was a spark of hope burning in Steve’s eyes. 

Bucky shrugged a shoulder in a vague way and settled back into his chair. Steve cleared his throat and continued the briefing when it became apparent that Bucky wasn’t going to say anything else. Bucky was hardly paying attention. His mind was a million miles away and seventy years in the past. 

Bucky stared intently at the screen as various surveillance images flicked across it. His soldier’s mind working in overdrive. All the pieces fit . . . there . . . that looked like rubble . . . could have been caused by an internal explosion. And there . . . those looked like scorch marks extending from the building in a very telling manner. Could . . . could you have been summoned to this particular base? 

Bucky was so focused on the images, he hardly noticed when the rest of the team filed out of the room to go start prepping for the mission. Steve crossed his arms over his chest and watched his friend with growing concern. It had been a long time since he’d seen Bucky so focused on something. Mostly these days, Bucky just seemed . . . lost. 

“Buck?” He asked quietly. Bucky didn’t respond. Steve tried again, reaching out a hand and setting it on Bucky’s shoulder. “Bucky?” 

Bucky snapped to attention, more because of the physical contact than because of Steve’s use of his name. His eyes shot to Steve and he had to physically wrestle his fight-or-flight reflex back down. 

Steve waited until the crazed look in Bucky’s eyes had faded before he spoke again. “Wanna clue me in here?” He asked, sitting lightly on the table and crossing his arms over his chest. 

Bucky glanced back over at the surveillance photos. “Remember when you looked up what happened . . .” Bucky swallowed hard. “ . . . what happened to her?” 

Steve nodded, concern brewing. 

Bucky nodded at the screen behind Steve. “I think that’s where it happened.” He whispered, not really sure how to feel about the revelation. 

Steve sighed and placed a comforting hand back on Bucky’s shoulder. “Maybe you shouldn’t . . .” 

“I’m coming.” Bucky said firmly, cutting Steve off. He took one last look at the photos before turning his attention back to Steve. His eyes implored Steve not to hold him back. “Please, Stevie. I have to know.” 

Steve glanced at his friend before his attention was turned to a certain red head standing in the doorway. She held up her wrist and pushed down her sleeve, showing Steve the soulmate mark on her wrist that he shared, and Steve nodded. Steve hadn’t had a soulmate when he’d gone into the ice, but he had one now and he would be damned if he let anything happen to her. He could only imagine the pain that Bucky must be feeling having lost his. If this is what it took to bring Bucky closure, Steve would do everything in his power to help him. 

“Alright, Buck. Suit up. We leave in five.” 

Bucky nodded, his eyes flicking just once more to the screens before he pushed away from the table and left the room. Nat walked over to Steve and nudged his shoulder. “He needs this.” She whispered. 

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and glanced out the door Bucky had disappeared through. “Yeah. I know. Doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”


	2. Rediscoveries

The team slowly made their way through the surrounding woods as they approached the base. Bucky moved on silent feet through the underbrush, seventy years of training keeping his movements precise and graceful. He ignored Tony’s whiny quips and the crackling of snapped twigs as the rest of the team moved through the woods. His focus was entirely on the mission at hand. He glanced around the woods wearily. Every instinct he had told him that there was something he was missing. As a trained assassin, used to having the upper hand in any situation, it was a frankly unnerving sensation 

“Anything feel . . . off to you?” He asked quietly, glancing at Steve a few yards away. Steve was glancing around with a furrowed brow. He felt it too. 

Steve nodded. “It’s too . . . similar.” He whispered over the comms. 

“Similar?” Sam questioned from the air. 

Steve shook his head. “Can’t explain it Sam. It’s just . . . it’s like nothing’s changed in the past seventy years.” 

Bucky glanced around the woods in concentration. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off. 

“Think you’ve been spotted!” Barton called form his nest up in the trees. 

The familiar sound of gunfire could be heard moments later and Bucky dropped into a sniper position instinctively. 

“Go, go, go!” Steve shouted, weaving through the trees. 

Bucky angled his gun and focused down the scope, taking out two HYDRA agents before they shot Steve and Sam in the back. 

Steve spun as he heard the gunshot behind him and watched as the HYDRA agent dropped. He spun around with a grin on his face and saluted Bucky’s general direction. 

Bucky’s own lips twisted up in the smallest semblance of a smile. This felt familiar. 

A few minutes later, the sounds of fighting died down and the Avengers took in the battleground. “Cap’?” Nat asked, glancing around. 

Bucky picked up his rifle and jogged towards the others. His face took in the destruction with a grim look. He glanced at Steve and nodded. 

“I see it.” Steve nodded. 

“See what?” Barton asked. 

“There’s only, what? A few dozen guys here? Where are the rest? Intel said that this was a hotbed of bad guy activity.” Stark noted flying overhead. 

Bucky rested his gun on his shoulder and waited for Steve’s orders. 

“I don’t like it.” Steve said, shaking his head and tightening his grip on his shield. “Something else is going on here. Keep a sharp eye. Nat? Buck? You’re with me. The rest of you, fan out, check the perimeter. See if you can’t ferret out a few more.” 

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Stark sassed before flying off, Falcon right behind him. 

Bucky and Nat flanked Steve as he made his way towards the front of the building. 

The outside, just as it had been in the pictures, was completely destroyed. Rubble lined the walkway up to the front doors. Half of the building looked like it was in the middle of caving in on itself. Nat whistled. “Something bad happened here.” She said. 

A chill crossed Bucky’s chest. He had a bad feeling about this. Beside him, Steve squared his shoulders and raised his shield up, so it was halfway in front of him before he took the lead, stepping over what had once been the front doors, and into the building. Bucky gripped his rifle and lowered it, so it was firmly gripped in both hands before he followed his friend inside. 

Inside the building, everything was eerily quiet. Beside the ominous creaking of the roof, the only sound that could be heard was skittering of the cockroaches as they crawled across the blackened remains of World War II propaganda that lay scattered across the floor. 

Slowly, the three of them made their way further into the building. Nat was watching the ceiling wearily. “That thing should have collapsed years ago.” She whispered. Despite her low tone, her words echoed around the silent building. 

Steve glanced up and nodded. “So, what’s still holding it up?” He asked, finishing her question. 

As they got closer to what must have been the epicenter of the explosion, Bucky’s heart began racing. He flexed his fingers over his weapon, the whirling of the gears in his arm catching Steve’s attention. 

“Buck?” He asked. 

“Something’s wrong.” Bucky responded quietly, every sense he had on high-alert. 

Steve nodded and once again adjusted his grip on his shield. Nat clenched her hands, electricity crackling along the gauntlets on her wrists. 

Slowly, the three of them approached an innocuous set of doors blocking their entrance to the rest of the building. Nothing was overtly suspicious about them except their shiny newness. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to get the reinforced doors in here. Nothing else had been disturbed since the war. So, what was so important it was worth hiding behind them? 

"I say we check it out." Nat said, pushing on the doors. They didn't budge. She reached down to her belt and pulled out some of Stark’s patented C4. “You should probably stand back.” She threw over her shoulder, as she fixed the mass to the double doors. 

Steve and Bucky quickly took cover to the side. Steve reached out and pulled Nat behind his shield as soon as she was done with the doors. She pulled out a simple button from her belt and went to push it. 

“Wait.” Steve said. 

Nat glanced back at him. 

“We sure we want to prod this bear?” Steve asked, glancing back at Bucky. 

“I gotta know.” Bucky said simply. 

Steve nodded and turned back to his wife. “Do it.” 

“Fire in the hole.” Nat whispered, pressing the button. 

The explosion rocked through the empty corridor, blasting a hole through the doors. They’d been built to stand up to worse than that, but this was Tony’s tech we were talking about. 

Slowly, as if drawn towards the room behind the doors, Bucky rose to his feet and moved towards the burning hole in the center of the doors. He lifted his rifle out in front of him and hunched low as he stepped into the room and into another time. 

It took all his training to keep his hold on his gun instead of dropping it to the ground as he took in the scene before him. 

“Doll?” He choked. 

And just like that. He REMEMBERED.


	3. Frozen in Time

Bucky glanced around the room. A room literally frozen in time. In the center of the room, a man, partially engulfed in a fireball, stood in front of a woman who was facing Bucky. Her eyes were opened wide, a silent shout falling from frozen lips. Her arms were in the air, her fingers flexed. Around the room, a handful of men in outdated military uniforms were likewise frozen in varying degrees of distress. “What happened here?” Nat’s voice echoed from behind Bucky, snapping him to the present. 

“Buck?” Steve asked, taking in the scene with wide eyes. Steve’s eyes snapped to the form of the frozen woman and his eyes widened even further. “Is that who I think it is?” 

Bucky could only nod, forcing himself to remain detached as he glanced around, desperately searching for clues. His eyes kept flicking back to your frozen form though, as though he couldn’t help himself. After all this time. You were here. After. All. This. Time. 

Steve snapped out of his haze and immediately switched back into Captain mode. He moved around the room quickly, taking the time to look over everyone closely. Bucky couldn’t bring himself to move. Instead, his eyes once again flicked to your face before sliding over to look at the man in the middle of exploding in front of you. Clearly, he’d been meaning to kill you all. What had stopped it? What had kept you safe? 

Steve reached out a tentative hand to touch your shoulder. “Wait.” Nat snapped, reaching out and snagging his arm. Tension filled the room and Bucky raised his gun and glanced around for a threat automatically. He relaxed minutely when he realized they were still alone. Well, them and the dozen or so frozen human statues. 

“I think . . .” Nat continued. “. . . Steve . . . what if she’s the one causing it?” 

Bucky glanced at Nat incredulously. He would have known if you’d had powers. Granted, his mind wasn’t necessarily there at the best of times anymore, but seeing you now . . . it was like the dam had burst and everything about you had come flooding back to him. The small smiles when you would wake up to see him watching you sleep. The quick kisses stolen when nobody was looking. The way you would blush prettily whenever he would take you dancing and dip you low . . . You were . . . you. And you hadn’t been able to do . . . this. 

“We still need to get her out of there, Nat.” Steve glanced at Bucky and tried to lower his voice so the super-soldier wouldn’t hear. “Buck can’t lose her again and I can’t watch him lose her again. You weren’t there when he finally remembered her and asked where she was. It was like whatever spark of life remembering the good times had brought back . . . it just snuffed it right out. We’ve got to save her.” 

Nat glanced at Steve. “I know that, Rogers. And we will. But what if she iS the one doing this? We can’t do anything that risks unfreezing her until we have a way to protect her and everyone else in here from that blast. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a little puff of smoke.” She said, gesturing her head meaningfully towards the explosion that Bucky had his own eyes trained on. 

Steve glanced at the situation with new eyes and nodded at Nat. “Right.” He said, stepping away from your form and moving to stand next to Bucky again. “Right.” He repeated. He placed a hand on Bucky’s arm. “Stay here.” He said quietly. “I’ll be right back.” 

He waited for Bucky to nod in acknowledgement and then he turned and jogged out of the room, heading to check on the rest of the team and to get Tony. 

Nat folded her arms and leaned casually against one of the walls, watching Bucky out of the corner of her eye. 

“She’s quite the looker.” She commented casually, slipping into spy mode and trying to ferret information out of the soldier. Bucky merely nodded his head. 

Nat sighed and glanced around the room. “You think they had families?” She asked, gesturing towards the rest of the occupants. 

Bucky tore his gaze from you and glanced around the room. It wasn’t hard to spot the wedding rings on the outstretched hands of most of the room, glittering in the faint lighting. He nodded. 

Nat’s brows furrowed. “So, the question is, how did a room full of people with families get frozen in time for seventy years without anyone raising any red flags?” She asked quietly. 

Bucky froze. That was a very, very good question. He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew the answer behind it. 

A low whistle sounded behind him. “This . . . this I was not expecting.” Tony said, walking into the room. He popped open his armor and stepped out of it, walking around the room and peering into every face. 

“JARVIS. You taking readings?” The scientist asked. 

“There are no heat signatures, nor vital signs present, sir. Without eyes on the situation, I would say there wasn’t anyone in here at all.” 

“But they’re real?” 

“Further scans indicate that yes. They are all organic human lifeforms trapped in . . . time . . . if I had to wager a guess.” 

“You think you can get them out?” Steve asked, eyes flicking to Bucky’s still form. Bucky was busy taking all of you in. You were just like he remembered. You had the same hairdo. The same old-soul stared back at him out of unblinking eyes. Hell, you were still wearing the locket he’d given you for your first anniversary. Without opening it, he knew that inside he would find a photo of himself from before the war had changed him and an inscription. “Till the end of the line.” The same words that Steve had used to bring him back after HYDRA had stolen his soul. 

“Nothing’s impossible.” Tony was saying. “I need some equipment from the quinjet first though. And Banner. I’ll be right back.” Tony climbed back into his suit and flew away leaving Steve, Bucky and Nat alone with the frozen souls. 

The silence was deafening as each of them got lost in their own thoughts. 

Before they knew it, Stark flew back in, a large case in his hands. He once again climbed out of his suit and set the case on the ground before sliding the helmet off and stepping out of the suit. He noticed the two super-soldiers fixation on the girl in the center of the room, but he said nothing as he set up his computers. 

Behind him, Banner tip-toed into the room, doing his best to appear invisible after his Hulk episode earlier. Stark had filled him in on the situation, so he didn’t look around him with too much awe. He merely moved towards Tony and began debating something with him under their breaths. 

Steve glanced at Bucky, worry in his eye. “Don’t worry, Buck. Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll get your gal back. Promise.” 

Bucky tried to trust that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve, Steve, Steve. Every time I went to give Bucky a line of dialogue, Steve hijacked it trying to be the good bro he is. *Sigh* Guess we'll try again next chapter.


	4. Waking Up

For hours, Bucky stood sentinel in the corner of the room, watching as Stark and Banner puttered around, testing everything and running countless scenarios. A few hours after they had started, a handful of SHIELD agents had arrived at Nat’s request. Bucky had merely raised an eyebrow at her when she led them into the room. She’d come to stand beside him, mimicking his menacing pose as the agents began reinforcing the walls and ceiling. 

“Sorry Barnes. But we needed help on this one. I’m pretty sure whatever froze time is also whatever’s keeping the ceiling from caving in and killing us all. Don’t worry, though. They’re the best. Barton and I have worked with these guys. I trust ‘em. They won’t let anything happen to your girl.” 

Bucky had merely nodded his acceptance at the apology and then had gone back to guarding his soulmate. 

Meanwhile, in the back of his mind, a question kept turning over and over. What exactly had HYDRA been doing here in the first place? From Bucky’s experience, he wouldn’t put it past them to have known you were here which meant somewhere out there was a lose end that needed cutting. Now that he had found you again, nothing else mattered but keeping you safe. He wouldn’t lose you a second time. 

Bucky’s hands curled around his biceps as he watched another SHIELD agent get a little too close to your frozen form. One of the first things Tony and Banner had confirmed was that it would be a bad idea to touch any of the frozen beings. They said that they’d been in stasis too long. In fact, there was a pile of dust in the corner that everyone was doing their best to avoid that Banner and Stark were pretty sure had once been one of the frozen souls. They theorized that someone, maybe a HYDRA agent, had touched the poor soul and the forced reintroduction to the current timeline had dusted them. Bucky would kill everyone in the room before he let someone take the same chance with you. 

“We got something.” Stark called out triumphantly from the center of the room. Bucky relaxed his stance, stretching his tired muscles and moved towards the two scientists, Steve hot on his trail. 

“Whatcha got?” Steve asked. 

Bucky glanced at the computer screens; brow furrowed. It was like trying to read a foreign language. Stark gestured to the screen. “Your soulmate is definitely the one causing this Manchurian Candidate.” Stark said. Bucky and Steve merely stared at him. He sighed. “This is your soulmate here, Barnes.” He began, pointing at a blob on the screen. “As you can see, a great deal of power is emanating directly from inside of her.” Bucky nodded. He could kind of see it. 

Steve nodded too. 

“Right. Now, no one else is emanating anything. They’re just grey nothing. So, it’s got to be her.” 

“Can you stop her?” Steve asked. 

“Well . . . we can’t just . . . vacuum out whatever battery she’s running on. Who knows what that would do to her, but! That’s not the only source of power she’s drawing from.” 

Bucky glanced at Stark. 

“He’s talking about the bomb.” Banner explained. “She’s siphoning off the building energy from the bomb. Given enough time, she could probably siphon off all of it, leaving it inert. But we probably don’t want to wait that long.” 

Steve glanced at Bucky’s clenched hands and nodded. “Agreed.” 

Stark jabbed at his screen excitedly. “So, all we need to do is cut off her power supply and presto-change-o . . . she should pop out of time cryo and be a walking, talking, history exhibit just like the two of you.” 

“How?” Bucky murmured, glancing over at you. Unsurprisingly, you still hadn’t moved a muscle. 

Banner and Stark shared a nervous glance with each other before Stark glanced at Steve guiltily. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well . . . since the bomb is what’s giving her the energy to do this right now . . .” 

Steve picked up on his gist and started shaking his head emphatically while Bucky nodded. “No. You’re not killing this guy. That’s murder Stark. You know that right?” 

Stark opened his mouth, but Bucky beat him to the punch. “Steve.” He cut in. Steve glanced at him. “Look at him. He’s already gone. There’s nothing left to save.” Steve reluctantly turned his gaze back to the man mid-explosion. In his heart he knew that Bucky was right, but it went against his nature to do nothing about it. 

“You’re asking me to wipe my hands of it, Buck. You know I can’t do that.” 

Bucky shook his head. “My choice, punk. This time, I’m pulling rank on you. Yours is more for show anyway.” Bucky’s ghost of a smile reminded Steve of a time before everything got so complicated and he’d felt such a weight on his shoulders. It was a smile Steve had begun to think he’d never see again, and he made his choice. 

“Do it.” He said. 

Stark walked back into the room, a huge suit of armor covering him from head to toe. “It’s my bomb disposal suit.” He defended when he caught Nat’s amused expression. 

“You go around defusing a lot of bombs, Stark?” She asked, chuckling lightly. 

“You don’t know what I do in my free time.” He sniffed, turning face the rest of the room. 

“How are we doing this, Stark?” Steve asked. 

Tony glanced around the room. “Alright. We can’t physically move any of the time-popsicles here without turning them to dust like Polvo over there . . . so . . . on my mark, Cap’s gonna touch Mr. Explodey over there. That should release the explosion. I can contain it with the blast force-fields in my suit and drain the residual energy out of it. Theoretically that should unfreeze everyone in here. The suits in the early stages so don’t expect anything . . . fancy.” 

“It’s never been tested?!” Bucky ground out angrily, taking a step towards Tony. Steve grabbed his arm and held him back. 

“Calm down, Side-kick. My math is never wrong. Just . . . everyone not frozen in time or wearing protective armor . . . now would be a good time to leave.” 

Slowly, all the SHIELD agents filed out of the room, leaving only the Avengers. Steve glanced around the room. “You too, fellas.” 

Sam, Bruce and Thor slowly filed out of the room as well. 

“I don’t suppose I can convince either of you to leave?” Steve sighed, glancing at Bucky and Nat. Nat crossed her arms across her chest and shot him a look that said; ‘What do you think?’ 

Bucky merely shook his head. “Where she goes, I go.” He said, pointing at you. 

Steve sighed and shook his head. “And you say I’m the reckless one.” 

“You ARE reckless. You’re the one stepping into the blast zone.” Bucky sassed. 

“Ladies. If you’re done?” Stark called out, rolling his eyes. 

Nat took a few steps back, so she was pressed against one of the further walls. Steve adjusted his grip on his shield and raised it to eye level, ready to step forward and finish this. He took one step before Bucky’s arm reached out and snagged his. 

“Wait.” He whispered. 

Steve glanced back at him. 

Bucky’s eyes flicked to your form and then back at Steve. “Just . . . be careful.” He whispered, letting his emotionless mask fall for just long enough for Steve to see the fear brimming in his eyes. It was fear for both you and Steve. The two most important people in Bucky's life.

Steve nodded. “It’ll be okay, Buck. Promise.” 

Bucky nodded and let his arm fall loosely to his side. He took a step back and prayed to whoever was listening for just this one miracle. 

“Ready?” Steve called out, facing Tony. 

Tony nodded, grim-faced. 

Steve took a deep breath, raised his shield and stepped up to the frozen bomber. He reached out a hand and lightly tapped the man's shoulder. 

All hell broke loose. 

A loud boom filled the small space as Steve was blasted back, slamming into the wall behind him. His body left a sizeable dent. Beside him, Bucky was also thrown backwards as the force of the explosion. Bucky shook his head and jumped to his feet, eyes immediately drawn to the fireball in the center of the room. 

For a moment, his view of you was entirely blocked by flames as Stark wrapped them up in an energy field. Starks grunts could be heard loud-and-clear despite the roaring in Bucky’s ears as Stark tried to shrink the bubble of flames. 

“Come on, come on.” Stark muttered, pressing his hands on either side of the bubble closer together. 

“Power at 200% and climbing.” JARVIS’ voice rang out. 

“Come ON!” Stark cried, condensing the fireball even more. Bucky took a cautious step forward, drawn towards you as your head peeked over the top of the flames. 

“Power at 400% and climbing. Sir, the suit can’t handle much more of this.” 

“Vent to secondary relays!” Stark bit out. Electricity hummed through the air as it shot down the wires Stark had attached to the back of his suit and out the doors. He collapsed the ball even more. It was almost the size of a small fishbowl now. 

Bucky took another step forward, his eyes locked on you. Was it his imagination? Or had you started to blink? Were you moving? 

“Got it!” Stark called out, slamming his metal-clad hands together. The sound of crackling electricity faded as Stark’s suit sucked up the last of the blast energy. Tony grunted and fell to the ground, exhausted. 

“Suit needs work, JARVIS.” He panted. Bucky barely spared him a glance as the room slowly came to life around him. 

Your eyes closed the rest of the way and then slowly opened again. Limbs that hadn’t moved in over seventy years swayed as your confused and exhausted eyes met his. Bucky leapt to your side as you collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide with fear. Blood poured out of your nose as though a faucet had been opened. As he watched, the hair framing your face turned a startling shade of white. 

You reached up a shaking hand to cup the side of his face. “James?” You asked. 

Before Bucky could respond, your hand fell limply to the ground and your eyes slid shut once again. 

Bucky’s panicked eyes looked for Steve. 

“Banner!” Steve called out. Banner took one look at the limp girl in Bucky’s arms and waved Bucky out of the room. 

Steve watched his friend race out of the room with you in his arms and Steve’s stomach clenched. You would be okay. You had to be. 

Steve’s attention was drawn to one of the recently unfrozen men who slumped to the floor, glancing at everything with wide-eyed disbelief. Steve winced. He’d been on the receiving end of being a man out of time and he didn’t envy these poor souls and the turn their lives were about to take. 

He squatted next to the man and saw Nat do the same to someone else out of the corner of his eye. He sighed and placed a comforting hand on the man’s shoulder. 

“You’re okay, son. You’re safe now.” 

The man glanced up. “Captain America?” He asked. 

Steve nodded a sense of . . . comradery filling him. This man’s Captain America was someone Steve could be. Someone Steve had never stopped being. 

The man glanced around. “Where am I?” 

Steve tried to smile comfortingly. “You’re in Brampton, England . . . in 2017.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shrugs shoulders* At least they were reunited? *Smiles guiltily* 
> 
> Now for some housekeeping: 
> 
> As I mentioned at the beginning of the story; the idea behind this is to rewrite my fic "Out of Time" which is the same concept but from Steve's point of view, and make a parallel universe where Bucky is the one who's soulmate was frozen in time. If you read Steve's version and you read this version, so far things have been verrrrrry similar. Not exact. But similar. Starting next chapter, things are going to start changing though and there's going to be a lot less "copy and paste" and a lot more originality. The current plan is that by the end of the fic, we'll be doing things differently enough from Steve's version so that if you've read that one, you shouldn't see too many spoilers for this one although the science bros chapters will be virtually the same because there's no way I'm making up that much science a second time around and also because I feel like regardless of which of the 40s boys reader's soulmate actually is . . . they're going to want the nitty-gritty details of what's going on with her.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying it! And thanks for reading!


	5. The Waiting Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what? I had a rough day and you know what makes me feel better? Posting my stories. So! Enjoy the bonus chapter on the house! And get ready. Cuz tomorrow is gonna be especially fluffy. I can't WAIT to post that one.
> 
> Happy reading!

Your heart rate monitors flatlined once again and Bucky felt his own heart skip a beat until the secondary machine that Tony had whipped up within an hour of arriving back at the compound, flashed green. He felt is own heart start beating again as he realized that your heart hadn’t actually stopped. You’d just slipped back into another time freeze. 

Bucky let out a breath and tipped his head forward, holding it in his hands. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho felt that the time freezes were merely a side-effect of having been frozen for seventy years. They thought that as you recovered, the time freezes would slowly stop. They were hopeful you would wake up given time. 

Bucky wasn’t sure he could handle the wait. After years of torture under HYDRA’s obsessive thumb, he needed the peace that he remembered you had always been able to bring him with a soft-spoken word or two. 

A quiet knock on the door brought Bucky’s attention to the door of your room. 

Steve leaned casually against the door; arms crossed. “How’s she doin’?” He asked, glancing from his friend to your still form on the bed. There was a beeping sound as time unfroze and the heart-rate machine started up again. 

Bucky glanced back at you and then tenderly reached out and stroked your cool cheek with his knuckles. “The same.” He whispered. 

Steve watched the tender display of affection with a warm feeling in his chest. It had been so long since he’d seen Bucky in such a domestic setting. It almost felt like nothing had changed. 

Nat came up behind Steve and wrapped her arms around his waist, standing on the tips of her toes in order to rest her chin on his shoulder. Steve reached down and wrapped his arms around hers. 

“How’s Darling doing?” She asked, repeating Steve’s question unintentionally, using Stark’s nick-name for you. Tony had begun alternating between Wendy Darling and Tinkerbell after he’d realized that the men that you’d saved were just like Peter Pan’s lost boys. After all, the boys in the story had been frozen in time as well. 

Bucky glanced at his friends before glancing back at you, his heart clenching. He wanted to be able to hold you the way that Steve held Nat. Would he ever have the chance to? 

“The same.” Steve answered for him. Bucky leaned back in his chair, taking one of your hands in his so he could stay connected to you. 

Nat sighed and leaned her head against her husband's back. She couldn’t imagine the pain Bucky must be feeling. The thought of Steve lying there in your place . . . she’d kill everyone in the room. 

“I thought you’d like to know that SHIELD got the Lost Boys settled in. They’re going to debrief them over the next week or so. I told Fury you’d want to have a hand in it.” She said to Steve, tightening her hold on him briefly. 

He nodded and shot her a smile over his shoulder. “Thanks, doll.” He whispered. 

Steve and Nat both turned their attention back to you. “She’ll be okay, Barnes.” Nat offered, looking over at the soldier. “To have been tied to you, she would have had to have been a spitfire.” 

Bucky’s lips twitched up in a small half-smile. 

“You don’t know the half of it, doll.” Steve joked, smiling down at you fondly. “Back in our day, Darling here got in as many scrapes as I did. If Buck wasn’t pulling me out of a fight, he was pulling her out of one.” He glanced up at Bucky. “You remember the time Jack McNeely called me a pansy and your ‘gal decided to jump him on his way home from work?” Steve turned back to Nat. “She jumped on his back and accidentally choked him out while hanging off his neck for dear life. Never heard another insult from ol’ Jackie-boy after that. Bucky though, he almost had her committed. Said she must have gone stark-raving-mad to have attacked a 250-pound McNeely brother by herself . . .” 

Steve and Nat continued exchanging stories in the doorway of the medbay room as Bucky half-listened. He laughed quietly at a few of your more colorful adventures; but all the while he was watching you for any change. 

He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to your forehead, unable to stop himself. 

“Come back to me, doll.” He whispered. 

A month had gone by and Bucky was at his wits end. “I’m going to kill him.” He warned Nat as he stood sentinel over your bedside. Nat’s arms were crossed as she leaned against the doorjamb, watching Bucky carefully. 

“You’re not going to kill him.” She said. 

Bucky mumbled quietly under his breath. 

Nat sighed and moved further into the room. “He’s worried about you. It’s sweet.” 

“It’s unnecessary.” 

Nat sighed again. “Barnes . . .” She began, warningly. 

“Natalia . . .” Bucky matched her tone. 

“What do you want me to say, Barnes? He’s right.” 

Bucky sighed and slumped into his chair next to you. He reached over and straightened your hospital gown, keeping his hands busy as he thought. 

Nat slowly sank onto the edge of your bed and glanced over your still features. “You can’t do anything else for her here, Barnes, and you know that Banner and Cho will do everything in their power to help her while you’re gone.” 

Bucky’s hands froze against your arms before he pulled them back and dropped them in his lap feeling the inevitable sweeping over him. Steve was right. He needed to go. He needed to know what HYDRA knew about you. It was more important than staying here by your side no matter how much he wanted to. Plus, it would get Steve off his back. Steve had been pestering Bucky to get back on the team roster for weeks. He’d said that playing at mother-hen was his job. Not Bucky’s. 

He sighed and glanced down at you. 

“She’ll be safe.” Nat repeated softly. “You really think we’d let anything happen to your girl? I don’t think anyone wants to risk the hulk-style rage you'd subject us to” 

Bucky smirked sadly at the reminder of his past life. 

He pushed to his feet and moved to find Steve. He paused just inside the doorway. “Just . . . watch after her, ok?” He asked, glancing at Nat. 

She stared at him quietly for a moment before she nodded. “With my life.” She vowed. 

Bucky glanced at you and shook his head. “We both know you can take whatever comes your way.” 

They shared a smile and then Bucky was out the door without a backwards glance. 

Steve bashed a HYDRA agent’s face in. “You get the data?” He called through the comms. 

“Yeah. Yeah. Cap’. Keep your shield on.” Tony muttered back. 

“Down!” Bucky called. Steve didn’t hesitate to drop. Bucky fired several shots right where Steve’s head had been. 

“On your left!” Nat’s voice called over the comms. 

Steve and Bucky dove to the side as a blast of power shot through the area, leveling everything in its path. 

“Sam tell you about that?” Steve panted, jumping back to his feet and flinging his shield out. 

“You’re damn right I did.” Sam grunted. 

Steve chuckled. “Not that I’m not glad to hear your voice, doll . . .” 

“I thought we agreed no flirting over the comms.” Barton snarked. 

“Shut up, Clint.” Nat sassed back. “I’m not talking to you anyway.” 

“No?” Barton responded. “Who’d you call then? Cuz’ if you hadn’t noticed, we’re kind of busy right now.” 

“I called for Barnes.” Nat said simply. 

Bucky heart froze and his finger hesitated on the trigger. In that split second, a HYDRA agent got a shot off. It hit Bucky’s metal arm and ricocheted off. Bucky steeled his nerves and shot the agent. 

Steve glanced at Bucky worriedly as he threw his shield again. “What’s going on, Nat?” he asked. 

“It’s Darling. She’s awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize when I started just how bad I ship Nat and Steve. But man-oh-man am I starting to realize it now.


	6. Reunited and It Feels So Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised. Fluuuuuuuuuff for days. 
> 
> Tomorrow will be too. But then we hit the angsty-angst.

Bucky hesitated outside of the medbay room. He’d been standing out there for the past five minutes, trying to figure out whether or not to go in. For the past three months he had desperately prayed for the chance to see you and to be able to talk to you again. Now, all that separated the two of you was a single door; but he couldn’t bring himself to open it. 

His metal appendage whirled as he raised it instinctively and brought it to his head, stroking his fingers through his recently trimmed hair. He flinched as the cool metal touched his scalp, a stark reminder of just how much he had changed since he’d last seen you. Would you still recognize him? Would you even want him after all he had done? 

The sound of laughter echoed from inside the room and Bucky couldn’t wait any longer. He squared his shoulders and slipped on the mask that had been seventy years in the making. He could do this. 

He slowly pushed the door open. 

Nat was sitting in the chair next to the bed. In her hands she had a stack of photos that she was showing you. “This one is from the time that we taught Steve how to work a washing machine. Did men in your day wear pink?” 

You were laughing so hard, tears streamed down your face. You shook your head. “No. . . they wouldn’t have been caught dead!” You choked out between peels of laughter. 

Nat held up another picture. Your laughter slowly petered off. “James . . .” You whispered, reaching out a finger to stroke the figure in the photograph.

It had been a few days since Bucky had first heard the news that you’d woken up from your coma. During that time, Nat had gently introduced you to your new reality. Including the fact that Bucky was still alive. You’d pressed for more details, but Nat had quickly changed the subject each time you’d tried. Tony hadn’t had the same hold-ups. You didn’t know the whole story behind Bucky’s life since the two of you had left the 1940’s. You weren’t sure you wanted to know. But you knew enough. 

The man in the photograph was someone you hardly recognized. James Buchanan Barnes, your soulmate, had been a vibrant soul, full of life, clean cut. The man in the picture was scruffy and lost. His eyes told a hundred tales, none of them good. 

Against your will, tears welled up in your eyes. 

“Those tears for me, doll? Because we can’t have any of that.” Bucky whispered quietly. His hands were shoved into his hoodie pocket, hiding his metal one from your sight. 

“James!” You cried, moving to throw yourself off the bed and rush towards him. Your feet tangled in the bedsheets and you nearly face-planted on the floor but Bucky rushed to your side and caught you. He helped you back into bed and sat beside you. Once you were safely settled once again, you threw yourself forward and wrapped your arms around his neck, burying your face in his chest. Quiet sobs wracked your body. 

Bucky glanced at Nat with a slightly panicked expression on his face. She made a hugging motion and Bucky slowly wrapped his arms around you and pulled you tightly to his chest. Nat smirked and nodded and then she spotted Steve standing just outside the door and moved to intercept him. 

“Give them a minute, Steve.” She whispered, pulling her well-meaning spouse away from the room. “You can talk to her later.” 

Bucky held you until your tears dried. At some point, he relaxed into it, only to realize that your head was pressed dangerously close to the scars that marred his shoulder where HYDRA had spent decades experimenting and “improving” his metal arm. 

He carefully tried to pull away from you before you noticed, but you only clung to him tighter. 

“I’m sorry.” You cried. “I’m so, so, sorry!” 

“Hey. Hey now, doll, what do you have to be sorry for?” Bucky asked, finally managing to pull you off his chest. He reached a hand out and gently tilted your head up when you refused to look at him. 

“I wasn't there for you.” You whispered, your lip quivering. “You went through hell and I wasn’t there for you.” 

Bucky’s mind scrambled to keep up with her. “No . . . doll . . . I wasn’t there for YOU.” He said quietly but vehemently. “You made me promise that I’d come back to you safely and I failed.” 

You shook your head and carefully, so you wouldn’t startle him, you reached out a hand and grasped the arm you knew wasn’t anything a part of the man you remembered. Bucky tensed as your hand came into contact with the unyielding metal under his sleeve, but he didn’t pull away. Instead he watched you carefully for any sign of discomfort. To his utter surprise, he didn’t find a single indication. 

You traced up his arm with your hand and cupped his face. “For better or worse, right Barnes? Isn’t that what you told me the day you found me in the middle of a World War II battlefield?"

Bucky smiled softly at you and you watched as all the tension bled completely out of his shoulders. For the first time since Steve had brought Bucky back from HYDRA; he was just James Buchanan Barnes, regular schmoe and soulmate to the greatest ‘gal who’d ever walked this earth. 

He leaned forward and placed a tender kiss to your forehead before he leaned back against the bed, pulling you with him so you were tucked against his side. 

He listened to your heart beating strongly on its own as he gently traced patterns on your arm with his metal fingers. Every time you shuffled even the slightest amount, he would freeze, afraid that he’d hurt you. Eventually, you sighed exasperatedly and reached over, pulling his hand closer to your face. Without fear, you traced every groove and every crack in the metal limb with your fingers. 

“Can you feel this?” You asked quietly. 

“Y . . . yeah.” Bucky said. 

“Does it feel weird?” 

“No, doll. It feels good.” Bucky couldn’t help himself as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of your head. What should have been weird, he thought, was immediately being this comfortable around you after seventy years without you. But you were soulmates. You’d been destined to fit together before, maybe despite everything he’d been through, he wasn’t so different after all. 

“Do you miss it?” You asked, your voice barely a whisper. 

Bucky thought about it for a minute. Finally, he shrugged. “Sometimes.” He whispered, dropping his volume to match yours. He reached his free hand over and pulled at your wrist until your soulmate mark was showing. He traced a thumb over it. “Mostly I miss this though.” He continued. “It was a piece of you that I could carry with me no matter how far I wandered.” 

You craned your head to look back at him. “You’ll always have a piece of me.” You whispered, reaching out and placing a hand over his heart. “Right in there.” 

Bucky smiled at you lovingly. He’d missed this. He’d missed you. 

A knock sounded on the door and the two of you glanced over as Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho entered the room. Stark trailed along behind them looking a little bit like an excited puppy. 

“Morning, Wendy Darling.” Stark sassed, smiling down at you with casual affection. 

“Morning Tony.” You said, smiling back, ignoring the way Bucky’s arms tightened around you possessively. You turned your attention to the two doctors. 

“So? What’s the prognosis? Am I going to live?” 

Dr. Cho smiled in that reassuring way that never failed to help calm you down. “Your vitals look good and you appear to be in healthy condition. By all accounts, there don’t appear to be any lasting consequences from your trip through time.” 

“But?” You asked. This time when Bucky’s arms tightened around you, it wasn’t because of misplaced jealousy. This time it was because he was worried about you. You placed a comforting hand on his chest. If you were being honest, you were worried about yourself too. 

Dr. Banner’s smile looked a little forced. “But . . . we analyzed the data from your time in the coma. Each time you put yourself back in stasis, there was a notable strain on your brain waves. Maybe if you’d had practice before you used them the first time . . . you would’ve been able to maintain the stasis for seventy years without a problem. But now?” He trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

Stark rolled his eyes and came to stand at the foot of the bed. “What he’s getting at is . . . you were a nurse right?” He asked suddenly. You nodded. You HAD been an battlefield nurse during the war. “Great. So, you can think of your powers like a muscle. You work it, it grows stronger. You don’t? It atrophies. You push it past its levels of endurance . . .” 

“You can kill it.” You finished for him. Bucky’s grip turned a little painful as he sought to anchor you to himself. He wasn’t going to lose you again. He couldn’t. 

Stark nodded. “What you did, Tinkerbell, was incredibly stupid and dangerous.” He pointed a finger at Bucky. “Which means she’s just like your BFF Rogers. How on Earth do you not have any grey hairs yet after seventy years of dealing with two of them?” 

“How do we fix it?” Bucky asked gruffly, ignoring Starks very earnest question. 

Banner sighed. “You need to avoid using your powers until we have a better grasp of where they came from and how they work.” 

You bit your lip as you glanced around the room. “That shouldn’t be too hard, right? I mean, I didn’t even know I had them until . . . well . . . until I used them, I suppose. It’s not like I’m in the habit of using them.” 

Dr’s Cho and Banner smiled at you, but there was doubt written clearly in their eyes. You tried not to take it too personally and asked the next question that had been weighing heavily on you. “When can I leave?” 

Dr. Cho’s smile turned much more genuine. “If you’re feeling up to it, you can leave today if you’d like. Just remember, plenty of fluids and no strenuous activity.” 

You saluted her seriously and felt, rather than heard, Bucky chuckle behind you as she left the room. Banner sent one last smile at you before he too, turned and followed her out of the room. 

Tony waited until the door clicked shut behind them and then he turned to you. “Don’t worry, Wendy. When you’re feeling better, come to the lab. I have all the new toys. We’ll figure something out. You’re Barnes’ family. Which makes you Cap’s family. And THAT makes you our family too and we don’t let anything happen to our own.” 

The impassioned speech made you smile. “Thank you, Tony.” 

“I’ll be seeing you around, Darling, Mr. Darling.” Tony smirked at Bucky’s scowl and left the room, leaving the two of you to bask in each other's company.


	7. Steve, the Traitor

Steve called out your name the second you stepped out of the elevator and within minutes you were wrapped up in one of his bone-crushing hugs. “Oof.” You grunted. 

“Ease up, punk. She doesn’t have any serum in her, remember?” Bucky chuckled behind you. 

Steve immediately loosened his hold and apologized. 

You waved a hand in the air. “Not sure I’m ever going to get used to you being bigger than me, Stevie.” You grinned. Steve blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. 

Nat came up beside him and you leaned in to wrap her in a much gentler hug. She pulled away after a moment and looked you up and down. 

“Nice to see you on your feet, Darling. Does Banner know you’re up and about? Or did you pull a prison break? If it’s the latter, I know somewhere he’ll never find you.” She smiled at you suggestively and you laughed. 

“No. No. It’s all above board. He said I was free to go, just as long as I didn’t go crazy.” You turned to Bucky and leaned your head against his metal shoulder. He tensed slightly and you saw Steve take a half a step in your direction as though to protect you and you had to resist rolling your eyes. You kept your eyes locked with Nat who smirked at your actions. She’d seen you purposefully angle yourself, so you were on Bucky’s metal-arm side when you’d first step off the elevator. The two super-soldiers were just going to have to get used to the fact that Bucky wasn’t a threat. Not to the people he cared about, at least, and you were on the top of that list. 

“I guess that means that we can’t paint the town red tonight, then.” Nat said, still smirking at you with knowledge in her eyes. 

You pretended to pout and glanced up at your soulmate. “Please? James? Just this once? Let’s go dancing.” 

Bucky fought to bite back the smile that was forming on his lips. You had never been one to follow orders. Looks like somethings never changed. “No, doll. You heard the doc’s. You’ve gotta get better soon or I’ll have more grey hairs than Stark.” 

Nat laughed and leaned her back against Steve’s chest. “Don’t let Tony hear that. He’ll short-circuit your arm again.” 

You watched with a gentle smile as Steve instinctively wrapped his arms around his wife and leaned his chin against her head. For the first time since you’d met him, Steve looked . . . at peace. 

You reached over and wrapped one of your arms around Bucky’s metal one, pressing your cheek to the cold limb. 

“I’m a perfect angel.” You argued. “Besides, dancing never killed nobody.” 

Steve laughed. “Oh yeah? Tell that to Freddie McNeely and Tom Brockbank.” 

You froze and you felt Bucky freeze too. You shot a wide-eyed look at Steve who’s smile slowly faded off his face as he realized what he had let slip. He paled. You loosened your grip on Bucky’s arm and slowly began backing out of the room. 

Steve glanced at Bucky’s face as Bucky took a menacing step towards his friend. Steve released Nat, who merely quirked her head as she watched you out of the corner of her eye. Steve held up his hands placatingly and started side-stepping away from his wife. 

“What did you say?” Bucky demanded, his growly voice reminiscent of robotic tone of the Winter Soldier. 

Steve shot a pleading glance your way and briefly you considered trying to help him out of the pickle he’d caused but then you glanced at the near 300-pounds of raging, testosterone filled muscle that was your soulmate and you thought better of it. 

You turned tail and booked it out of the room. 

Oooooooh, you were in for it now. Bucky was going to KILL you this time. 

Behind you, you could hear the sounds of a brawl starting. You didn’t waste any time rushing back to the elevator. Your eyes skimmed the buttons and you jammed the one with the highest number on it, frantically pushing it, pleading with the doors to shut faster. 

You let a sigh of relief out as the elevator started moving upwards. 

You’d made it about three floors when the elevator slowed. You furrowed your brow in confusion and pressed the highest button again. Nothing happened. You tried it again. Still nothing. You pressed it a third time and the doors slowly opened to reveal your soulmate, panting heavily and looking a little roughed up. 

You let out an embarrassing squeaking noise and flattened yourself against the wall. 

Bucky didn’t take his eyes off you as he stepped inside and slammed a fist against one of the buttons. 

You rode for a minute or two in complete silence before once again, the elevator slowed to a stop. In one swift motion, just as the doors were opening, Bucky grabbed you around your waist and threw you over his shoulder, before he spun out of the elevator and started moving down the hall. 

“James! Put me down!” You called breathlessly. You got an angry grunt in response. 

Bucky stopped in front of a door and it slid open. He quickly stepped inside. You watched in fascination as the door slid shut automatically. It felt a little bit like it was sliding shut on your fate. 

Bucky marched down another hallway before he reached up and, in a contradiction of terms, gently dumped you on a mattress before reaching over and grabbing a chair. He flipped the chair around and sat, bracing his arms on the backrest and glared at you. 

“Talk.” He ordered. 

You maneuvered your legs until they were tucked underneath you and glanced around the room, biting your lip. “Who’s room is this?” You asked. There. You’d talked. Not your fault he hadn’t specified what he wanted you to talk about. 

“It’s mine. Talk.” 

You glanced at the nearly blank walls and the generic decorations. It looked more like a glorified hotel room than a bedroom. You opened your mouth to say as much but the glare he sent you shut you up. Though there was no real heat behind it, it cut you all the same and you knew why. It was the same reason you hadn’t told him in the first place. He WORRIED. 

You sighed. “It was right after you were shipped off. Steve had gotten accepted too. You know that story right?” 

Bucky nodded. 

“He was going to be shipped out in another week or so and we decided to have one last hurrah. Ya know? Who knew when I was ever going to see the two of you again?” 

You paused but Bucky remained stone faced. 

“We decided to go the McNeely’s dance hall.” 

“The one owned by Gary McNeely? Jack McNeely . . . the man you CHOKED UNCONCIOUS’s father???” Bucky demanded. 

You shrugged guiltily. “Yes?” 

Bucky sighed and dipped his head in frustrated anger. You took it as an invitation to continue. 

“It had never been a problem before. Steve said that was because Jack was sweet on me after . . . the incident.” 

Buck clenched his fist at the reminder. Steve wasn’t the only one who had noticed that. 

You did your best to ignore it. “Anyway, Steve and I danced, and everything was fine except Steve started having one of his asthma attacks, you know? There was so much cigarette smoke, I didn’t blame him. So, he rushed out ahead of me to get some air. I followed a little way behind him, but before I could get out the door Freddie and his goon of a friend Tom nabbed me and took me out back.” 

Bucky was breathing hard at this point and was struggling to reign in the anger brewing within him. 

You got the rest of the story out in a rush. “Freddie said that Jack had gotten drafted and wasn’t there to save my sorry skin anymore, so he was going to teach me a friendly lesson. Didn’t sound too friendly to me, but I’d swiped a beer bottle from a table on our way out. I smashed it against the wall and told them if they didn’t back off, they’d get what was theirs. They didn’t listen, so I jabbed and ran. Tom got a lovely row of stitches to add to his collection, and Freddie stayed away after that. See? Nothing harm done.” 

Bucky braced his arms on his knees and fell eerily quiet. You fidgeted nervously on his bed as you watched him for a reaction. You might have actually gone too far this time. You could remember the last spot of trouble you’d gotten into like it was yesterday. Bucky had threatened to chain you to the radiator and leave you there to rot. You knew he’d mostly been joking . . . still though . . . 

Damn Steve and his loose lips. You’d have to warn Natasha to watch out for him. He was not to be trusted. Soulmate or not. 

“James?” You tried, slowly moving off the bed. “You okay?” You took a step closer. He let out a shuddering breath. “Bucky?” You tried, reaching out a shaking hand. 

Before you knew it, Bucky was out of his chair and had swept you up, bridal style, into his arms. A quiet laugh shook his chest as he pressed his forehead to yours. 

“Are you . . . are you laughing?!” You demanded, reaching up to push his face back enough to see his eyes. 

He was! He was laughing! 

You gaped at him. 

Bucky leaned shook his head and then bent down and pressed a searing kiss to your lips. “I’ve missed you, doll. So damn much.” 

You melted in his arms and wrapped your own arms around his neck, pulling him closer. “Prove it, soldier.” You whispered, smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Some quality Bucky content without Bucky's "I've got a dark past and you don't deserve me 'cuz of it" hang ups!
> 
> This is hands down my favorite chapter so far. I was laughing so hard when I wrote it. So glad I finally got to share it with you guys!


	8. Frozen Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Genuine question for you before todays chapter; Do you prefer when authors publish a chapter a day? Or when they binge-post all the chapters at once? On the one hand, once a day builds suspense, on the other hand . . . instant closure. Thoughts?

“No!” You shouted, flinging your hands out instinctively. You stared at the knife that was inches away from Sam’s face and now frozen in midair. You glanced around the frozen room. Nothing was moving except yourself. You took a step forward, breathing heavily, but everything stayed still. You took another step forward, arms still splayed out as though that act alone could keep everything frozen for long enough to remove the threat. Your head started pounding and your vision grew hazy. In the back of your mind, you vaguely noticed the feeling of blood trickling down your face and coating your chin. You took another step forward and reached out a shaking hand to wrap around the hilt of the blade. 

The second you had a firm grip on it, everything around you unfroze. 

“What the hell?!” Sam demanded, glancing around wildly. 

Your legs gave out under you and you sank to the floor in exhaustion. 

Bucky shouted your name and raced to your side. He grabbed one of your arms and then raised one your hands to your nose, showing your how to pinch your nose to keep any more blood from flowing. 

“What the hell?!” Sam demanded again, looking down at you – more specifically your free hand, which was still gripping the knife tightly. 

“One of these days, you’re going to be the death of me.” Bucky muttered under his breath. He was brushing hair out of your face and poking and prodding you all over, checking for other injuries. You weren’t fooled though. You could feel his shaking hands. 

You shook your head and tried to lighten the mood. “More likely that one of these days you’ll be the death of poor Sam over there. Didn’t your mama ever teach you not to throw knives?” 

Sam was still angrily prattling on above you. Bucky’s expression hardened as he shot a glance at the Falcon, only to soften as he returned his gaze to you. “Doll . . .” He trailed off as he cupped your face. 

“I’m fine.” You tried to smile, but your bloodstained face did little to ease his worries. 

He gripped your arms tightly in his as he swept you up in his arms, completely ignoring Sam’s demand to wait up and ‘explain what the hell had just happened’. 

Your soulmate remained grim-faced as he marched down the hallways and headed towards Stark’s lab. 

“It was an accident.” You whispered, trying to reason with him. “No one’s hurt.” You weren’t sure if you were talking about yourself or Sam. 

Bucky shook his head and let out a growling sound. 

You swallowed down your next argument. 

Before you knew it, you were being carried into the lab. Tony was in the corner, tinkering with what looked like an automated arm very similar to the one currently wrapped around your legs. 

“Side-Kick? And . . . Darling!” Tony’s eyes lit up when he spotted you, although the light quickly faded as he took in your roughed-up appearance. 

Bucky graciously pulled a chair over from the corner of the lab and gently pushed you in it. Then, he took up a menacing stance behind it and crossed his arms, glaring at Tony meaningfully. 

“Darling?” Tony asked, glancing over your blood-stained face. He glanced over at the robot arm and gestured at it with his head. DUM-E beeped happily and grabbed a box of tissues, moving towards you and offering them out. You smiled and patted its head before taking a few. 

Banner had come into the lab at the sound of commotion and was watching you with furrowed brows. 

You sighed. “I froze time again.” You said quietly. 

Bruce and Tony froze. For a brief moment, all of you sat in stunned silence and then the two scientists were on their feet, running around the lab. 

“Start scanning, JARVIS!” Tony called out. You jumped as a robotic voice responded. You were never going to get used to that. 

“Right away, sir.” 

You jumped again as a laser-grid of lights flickered up and down your skin. Behind you, Bucky tensed, but didn’t move. Instinctively, you reached above your head and gripped one of his arms, squeezing softly. 

“How’d this happen?” Bruce demanded, stepping up to you. He gently pushed aside your free hand that was still trying to mop up the bloody mess on your face and tilted your head up. 

“Bucky and Sam were . . .” You glanced at Bucky out of the corner of your eye. “. . . Training . . .” 

Tony chortled under his breath. “More like arguing.” 

You cracked a smile but continued as though you hadn’t been interrupted. “ . . . And suddenly there was a knife flying through the air and it sure looked like it was about to impale Sam in the face.” You shrugged. “It was instinctual.” 

“One second she was several feet away, the next second she was on the ground in front of Sam, clutching the damned knife.” Bucky grunted, the gears in his arm whirling as he flexed agitatedly. 

Tony glanced at you sharply. “You didn’t freeze with everyone else this time?” He asked. 

You shook your head. 

Bruce and Tony exchanged significant glances before Bruce turned to the computer screen. 

“What are her vitals, JARVIS?” He asked. 

“Respiratory and Circulatory systems appear to be functioning normally. She has an elevated heart rate, but that is most likely due to the stress of the situation. Brain scans, however . . .” 

A scan of what you could only imagine to be your own brain lit up in a 3D hologram in front of you. A single, glowing portion highlighted. 

“Oh, dear.” You murmured. 

Bruce glanced at you sharply, worry apparent on his face. “You know what you’re looking at?” He asked. 

You bit your lip and nodded. “The hypothalamus shouldn’t look like that.” 

You stood to walk closer to the model but Bucky grabbed your arm. “What’s wrong, doll?” He asked quietly, desperately searching your face. 

You gestured towards the image of your brain. “James . . . that glowing bit is supposed to be half the size that it is.” 

Bucky dropped your arm as though it had suddenly scalded him. He was shaking his head, trying to convince himself you were fine. It was all fine. Surely this was just another one of his nightmares? A new way for the universe to torture him? He'd JUST gotten you back. You were fine. You had to be. 

Your heart ached for him as you saw the pain on his face. You quickly took a step closer to him and wrapped your arms around his waist. You leaned your head against his chest and cooed comforting words as Bruce and Tony exchanged a few words behind you. 

Bucky’s arms automatically pulled you in tighter to his chest and he buried his face in your hair. For a few minutes, the two of you stood like that, completely wrapped up in each other. But eventually, you had to face the music. 

You turned around. “Doc?” You asked quietly, letting Bucky wrap his arms around you again, and pull your back up against his chest. 

Dr. Banner removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Everything I’m about to tell you is . . . educated guesswork at best. But I think it’s the most logical thing we’ve got.” Banner moved to the screen and pointed at the highlighted part of your brain again. “The hypothalamus is kind of the balancing act of the brain. It’s one job is to keep everything balanced . . . to keep everything in homeostasis. It does a lot of things, but the most important things that it does are to regulate body temperature, emotions, blood pressure and heart rate. When you froze time, your hypothalamus went into overdrive. Your powers activated because you were exposed to a high amount of stress, right? A huge spike in emotion.” 

You nodded. You could still remember the pure panic and horror you’d felt as you watched the man with the manic expression in his eyes press the button connected to the bomb laden vest. 

“Keeping nearly an acre of land frozen in time for nearly seventy years was no small feat. Especially for someone who’d never used their powers up to that point.” Bruce pointed out. 

Tony jumped into the conversation. “We’ve been trying to figure out how you were able to power such a long-term feat of wonder that no doubt has Einstein rolling in his grave. Frankly, you shouldn’t have survived it. We know that you were pulling some of the energy out of the bomb itself, but the rest of it?” Tony shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly, but you could see the frustration in his eyes that he’d been unable to solve this particular riddle. 

“What are you saying?” Bucky demanded, needing the facts. 

“Bucky, there’s a lot we don’t understand here, but the gist of it is that Darling over there was exposed to a life-threatening event that triggered high stress levels. The high stress levels triggered her powers which we THINK originate in the hypothalamus. It would explain why it’s gotten so big at least.” Tony trailed off and glanced at the screen before swinging around to point at you again. “You overworked the muscle, kid.” You gave a repentant shrug. 

“The threat was frozen alongside you, and it’s not like you could unfreeze it without killing everyone in the room, so you stayed locked away. The hypothalamus was in a constant state of stress, unable to maintain balance. It was in paradox.” Bruce said. 

“But I’m out now. Shouldn’t it be healing?” 

Dr. Banner and Stark glanced at each other as Bucky pulled you even more tightly against his chest. “It should be . . .” Dr. Banner agreed slowly. 

“But it’s not.” Tony concluded. 

“What?!” Bucky demanded, harshly. 

Tony glanced back at the screens. “From the scans, it’s actually showing even more strain now than it was when you were in your coma. That coupled with the fact that you’re not remaining frozen alongside the rest of the world when you freeze time . . . I’d say it’s getting worse.” 

“So, fix it.” Bucky demanded. You rubbed a soothing hand against the arms still circled around your waist. 

Tony glanced at Bruce and shook his head slowly. “It’s not that simple, Manchurian Candidate. There’s still too much we don’t know about this right now.” 

Dr. Banner gestured around the lab. “We can study it. Try to learn more about it. Until then, we’re flying blind. I haven’t heard of anything like this before. How about you, Tony?” 

Tony shook his head. “’Fraid not, Darling, Mr. Darling. The best option would be to put you to sleep for a while and monitor you from there. Can’t do much if you’re unconscious . . .” 

“No.” You grit out, firmly. 

Tony didn’t seem surprised by your outburst. “Then the most we can do is recommend staying in calming environments. Stress seems to be the trigger. You need to avoid it at all costs. Come back tomorrow and we’ll run another series of scans.” 

You nodded against Bucky’s chest while Tony glanced up at him. 

“What’s the worst case scenario here?” Bucky asked. You closed your eyes. You knew the answer. You prayed the two scientists wouldn’t say anything although you knew your hopes were in vain. 

It was Dr. Banner who shattered your dreams altogether. “Worst case scenario is the next time she uses her powers, they kill her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lot's o' made up science in this chapter. But it kinda makes sense if you squint . . . right?
> 
> Fun fact: This chapter and the other science bros chapter we'll be getting soon are the most copy/pasted of all my chapters from Steve's version to Bucky's version just because the science was not something I wanted to redevelop. But, the beginning of this chapter varies slightly. I thought it was fitting to make reader freeze time after Bucky tried killing Sam (I assume for the umpteenth time).
> 
> All that aside though, Bucky must be freaking out right now. And you're right. The next chapter is aaaaaaall about the fluffy-angst that comes from Bucky having a full on break-down.
> 
> Hope you're as excited as me!


	9. Mother Hen

You curled your arms around your knees and pressed them to your chest as you stared out of the window. Outside, you could see Bucky pacing around, waving his arms every now and again in an angry way while Steve stood beside him, arms crossed and stance tense. You hated that he was in pain and you knew that he was. Bucky had always been worried about one thing and one thing only: the safety of his loved ones. Now, with what felt like a virtual timer ticking down on the minutes of your life, you knew that he was in pain. You knew he felt like he was about to lose you again. 

“Whatcha brooding over?” Nat asked behind you. 

You jumped. 

“Anyone ever tell you; you’d make a fine ghost?” You asked. “I swear, half the time you don’t even use the doors. You just move through the walls.” 

Nat smiled, but didn’t respond, waiting for you to answer her question. 

You sighed and glanced out the window. She followed your train of sight. 

“He’s worried.” You whispered, resting your chin on your knees. 

“Can you blame him?” Nat asked, keeping her eyes focused on the window. Her eyes were, as usual, drawn to the striking figure her husband cut. Steve’s eyes were drawn and haggard and she knew he must be fighting his own worry at losing you again. You’d been his friend too, after all. 

“He’s always been like this, you know.” You mused quietly, your eyes glazing over as your mind reached into the past. “I used to tease him that if we ever had kids, he’d mother them more than I would.” 

Nat smiled at that, trying to picture the fearsome Winter Soldier being . . . gentle. “I thought Steve was the mother-hen.” 

You chuckled. “He is. James is worse.” 

Nat faked a dramatic groan in an effort to bring a smile to your face. “I hope I never see it then, Steve’s bad enough as it is. You should have seen how he reacted the last time I got shot at. I thought he was going to have a heart-attack.” 

You smiled softly at her. “It’s worse for you, Nat. He’s your soulmate. He’s going to be a lot more invested in your wellbeing. He doesn’t act the same when Clint gets shot now does he?” 

Nat laughed, a genuine one. “No. I suppose he doesn’t. Last time we all got in a fight together, he told Clint specifically; ‘If you get killed, walk it off’.” 

You grinned. “See?” You glanced back out the window. “I’ve known those boys a long time, Nat. There’s only three people in this world that they’d do anything for. Us and each other.” 

Nat stared at you as you looked out the window. Bucky had stopped pacing and was staring out into the distance. There was a defeated slump to his shoulders. Steve walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his back. 

“Dr. Banner and Tony don’t think this is going away.” You whispered. Nat’s brows rose a fraction. “I . . . I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I’ve got to figure it out. I lost him once, Nat. I don’t think I’d survive losing him again.” 

“You losing him? I think it will be the other way around, Darling.” Nat said bluntly. 

You shook your head. “Afterlife, or no, whatever comes next isn’t worth facing without him, Nat. I’ll lose him just as much as he’ll lose me.” 

You and Nat were silent for a long moment, each of your lost in your own thoughts. Finally, Nat spoke up. 

“What are you going to do?” 

“I think . . . I think I gotta figure this out. I think I gotta test it.” 

“No.” 

The one word echoed around the room, hard and unyielding. You glanced up in surprise. Nat took a step back as your eyes met Bucky’s across the empty room. He was standing just inside the doorway, a hard mask over his features. His arms were crossed over his chest and his stance screamed murder. Behind him, Steve was glancing between the two of you worriedly. 

“Bucky . . .” Nat started, raising her hands appealingly. 

Bucky shot her a glare that made her freeze in her tracks. 

Bucky returned his glare to you. 

You bit your lip. “James . . .” 

Bucky’s glare didn’t relax even an ounce as he marched towards you and gripped your hand tightly in his metal one. He marched you out of the room as you cast a nervous glance at Steve. He gave you a sympathetic smile, but there was a firm resolve in his eyes. He didn’t like this plan any more than your soulmate did. He was secretly hoping Bucky would talk some sense into you. For both your sakes. 

The walk to the room you shared with your soldier was quiet. But you could have sworn you heard the anger brewing in Bucky’s mind despite the silence. The second the door slid shut behind the two of you, and you were alone, you couldn’t help but break the tense nothing. 

“James. You know that I have to do this.” He opened his mouth angrily, but you held up a hand and cut him off. “You always said that the thing that was most likely to get me killed one day was that I didn’t plan ahead. Well, this is me planning ahead! It’s better the enemy that you know, James. You’ve gotta let me do this.” 

Bucky let you finish your impassioned rant, but he wasn’t swayed. The idea of you putting yourself in danger, even if for the greater good . . . no. He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk you. 

“Doll . . .” He began. 

You cut him off again. “Do you trust me?” You asked quietly, folding in on yourself. 

“I . . . what?” 

“Do you trust me, James?” You asked again, staring into his eyes meaningfully. 

“Doll . . .” Bucky groaned. “This isn’t about . . .” 

“You don’t do you? Not really.” You sat down heavily on the couch as the realization sunk in. “I mean . . . you do in the little ways. You trust me when I say that I love you. You trust me when I say that I don’t care what HYDRA made you do . . . but you don’t trust me to take care of myself . . . do you?” You glanced up at him with a sad resolve in your eyes. You knew the answer already. It nearly broke his heart. 

He whispered your name as though it was a prayer. 

You shook your head. 

“So, you can’t deny it?” You asked so quietly, it was only thanks to his super-human ears that he heard it at all. 

Bucky sighed and sat down heavily on the couch next to you. He leaned his head against the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. He reached his hand out to you as an offering for you to take or reject, his heart beating unevenly in his chest. You stared at the proffered hand for a long moment before the love you had for this broken man stirred you to reach out and twine your fingers with his. 

He squeezed your hand. 

“You know what HYDRA did to me.” He said. It wasn’t a question. He knew Tony had loose lips. You nodded lightly anyway. He continued. “You know they took my memories. They erased Stevie. They erased my family.” His voice cracked. “They erased you.” 

You squeezed his hand this time. He held on to it for dear life. 

“I thought I was never going to remember who I was . . . before. And that was okay, because why did I need to know? There was always the next mission and that was the only thing that mattered. But they couldn’t erase everything. I remembered enough to know that something was missing and to miss it with all my soul.” 

Your eyes teared up as you remembered what little Tony had told you about Bucky’s time with HYDRA. You scooted closer to him and slipped your arms around his flesh one, holding it tight. You leaned your head against his shoulder. 

“And then . . . and then Stevie found me, and that reckless idiot managed to bring me back when I thought there was nothing to come back to. He brought me here and shared his new family with me and again, it wasn’t enough to fill that hole in my heart, but that was still okay because there was still the next mission until, suddenly, you were the next mission.” 

Bucky pulled away causing you to look up. He cupped your face with his metal hand. “Doll, when I saw you frozen in that room, everything I thought I’d lost came flooding back. I remembered EVERYTHING. I remembered that dinky little apartment we bought just before I got drafted. I remembered the way the third stair always creaked and how we had to start jumping over it because Mrs Jones would come out and yell if we didn’t. I remember the way you would be dancing in the kitchen when I would come home from the docks. Half the time you’d be dancing around the room with your nose pressed in a book and a spoon in your hand. I never understood how you managed to never bump into a single piece of furniture.” The smile that formed on Bucky’s face was one of the most beautiful you’d seen and one you hadn’t seen in nearly seventy years. The tears started trickling down your face at the sight and your own smile formed against your lips. 

Bucky’s smile fell slightly as you reached over and brushed your tears away. “But most importantly, doll. I remember every time you weren’t home because you’d picked a fight in a back alley somewhere with someone twice your size. I remember every bruise, every scrape, every twisted ankle . . .” Bucky trailed off and leaned his forehead against yours as you let out a weary sigh. 

“You can’t blame me for wanting to keep you safe, doll. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.” 

You leaned forward and pressed a salty kiss to his lips. He sniffled and quickly wrapped his arms around your back, pulling you onto his lap and holding you close. 

You were the first to break away as you placed your hands on either side of his face. “You will always protect me, James, and I love you for it. But sometimes, you have to let me fight my own battles. You can’t protect me from everything forever and as much as we both might want to deny it, this is happening now. Please, James. Let me do this.” You stared into his eyes, begging him to trust you. In your heart, you understood this was your best chance. 

You watched the grim acceptance flood his eyes and knew that you’d won him over. You slid your hands away from his face and slid off his lap, snuggling into his side instead. You couldn’t resist throwing out a quick quip at his expense. “Besides, Tony Stark seems to have inherited more than enough of his father’s genius and good looks to make it work.” 

Bucky chuckled darkly. “Don’t remind me. The last time I saw Howard Stark, Steve had to hold me back before I punched the no-good flirt for trying to make a move on my girl.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to your head. 

“Don’t worry, handsome.” You whispered, pressing a kiss to his chest. “You’re the only man in my life.” 

“Thank the Gods for that, doll.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Steve's mother-hen-ness is part of the reason I love them both so dang much.


	10. The Science Bro's

You marched into the lab with resolute purpose. Somehow you had managed to convince Bucky to help Steve with the new trainees today, but you knew that his own internal instincts as well as his soulmate instincts would be riding him hard to come check on you, so you needed to make the most of the time that you had before he decided to hunt you down. 

“Bruce. Tony.” You said, smiling business-like. “I come bearing gifts.” 

You held out a mug with the phrase ‘I AM Iron Man’ on it to Tony who took it and sniffed it almost suspiciously. You glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“What?” He asked, defensively. “The resident Russian trained Assassin's soulmate hands me a cup of coffee the same day that I’m going to run tests that could potentially kill her, and I’m not supposed to be worried about what he may or may not have slipped into it?” 

You sighed dramatically. “He didn’t spike the coffee, Tony. I drink it from the same source you do.” 

“Says you.” Tony muttered as he sipped his coffee. You rolled your eyes and turned to Bruce. 

“Here, Bruce.” You said, smiling as you handed him a chai tea. 

“Thanks, Darling.” Bruce smiled at you, having no problem drinking the tea you’d handed him. You shot a look in Tony’s direction. 

He sighed and held his hands up in defeat. 

“So, Mrs Winter. Where is your soulmate, anyway? I have a couple ideas for today, but I don’t want to do anything if it turns out he’s hiding in the airducts with Clint, ready to jump down and kick my ass if anything goes wrong.” 

You chuckled at the image that popped into your head of two grown men squashed together in such a small space. “He’s with Steve today. Nat convinced Steve to keep Bucky distracted while we work.” And for that, you owed her several days of training. She was determined to whip you into fighting shape. For what, you hadn’t yet dared to ask. She’d had a devious smile on her face when she’d proposed that particular bargain. 

Tony moved over to his computers and quickly flicked a few buttons. You watched as the surveillance cameras showed Steve and Bucky demonstrating a few sparring moves on each other. They were exactly where they were supposed to be. On the other side of the building. 

“Great.” Tony said, clapping his hands together. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get started.” 

You stood in the middle of an empty room. Attached to your head were hundreds of wires all connected to a helmet of some kind that Tony had secured over your head. In front of you, a small table stood with a single apple placed on the middle of it. 

Tony and Bruce secured the last of the monitoring gear to your body and then moved behind the lead partition that had been set up across the room. 

“How sure on the math are you?” You heard Bruce ask quietly. 

“I’m offended you’d even ask something like that, Banner.” Stark sassed back. He glanced over his shoulder at you. “But . . . pretty sure.” 

Tony spun around and shot you a thousand-watt smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Okay, Darling . . . here’s what we’re going to . . . actually . . . before we start, I want your absolute promise that your boytoy isn’t going kill me in my sleep for what we’re about to do.” 

You chuckled. “Of course he’s not going to kill you in your sleep, Tony.” You sassed. “MY soulmate is more of an attack-them-head-on-so-they-see-who-it-is-coming-for-them kind of a guy.” 

Tony pointed an accusing finger at you. “Laugh it up, Tinkerbell. Just know, if he offs me, I’m haunting you first.” 

You nodded solemnly but couldn’t help the grin that spread across your face. 

Tony grumbled under his breath but pulled up his monitors. “Okay. Here’s the plan, Darling. Everything’s all set; the partition should keep us safe from any . . . effects of your powers. When you’re ready, knock the apple off and try to freeze it like you did with the knife yesterday.” 

You nodded and turned your attention to the apple. Without taking too much time to overthink your actions and their potential consequences, you shoved the apple off the table. 

It quickly hit the floor and bounced away. 

“That’s okay. Try again.” Bruce said. 

Tony’s robotic arm chased after the apple before picking it up and handing it to you. You awkwardly thanked it before setting the apple on the table. You stared at it deeply, willing your powers to activate and then you once again shoved it off the table. 

Once again it bounced as it hit the floor and rolled away. 

For the next hour, you continued to practice, desperately trying to dig deep and find your powers within you. You couldn’t say why exactly it was so important to you to figure this out, but it was like an itch you couldn’t scratch. This gut feeling that you needed to figure it out and that you were running out of time to do it. 

The apple hit the floor again, this time more applesauce than apple. 

“This isn’t working.” Tony said suddenly, clearly bored. 

“Tony!” Bruce chastised. 

“No. He’s right.” You huffed in frustration. Why couldn’t you do it? What was holding you back? 

Dum-E reached up and put the apple back on the table, beeping happily. You patted its head. 

You reached down and picked the apple up, glaring at it as though it was the source of all your problems. 

“What you need, is some motivation.” Tony continued, a mischievous tone in his voice. 

“Wha . . .” You started. Suddenly, the sharp whistle of an oncoming train screeched through the lab. You jolted and the apple slipped from your fingers and . . . and . . . and never hit the ground. 

You stared wide-eyed at the apple, suspended in time and air. “Tony? Bruce?” You breathed, hardly daring to move as you stared at it. You’d done it. You’d finally done it. 

“You did it! You did it! But you’ve got to drop it Darling!” Tony’s voice yelled. It sounded hazy in your ears. The distant sounds of various alarms going off hardly phasing you. “Drop it now!” Tony yelled your real name and your mind jolted to reality. You dropped your hands and the apple splattered to the ground, finally giving up the ghost. 

You swayed on your feet slightly as you came fully back to the present. The second the apple splattered, Tony and Bruce rushed to your side. Bruce grabbed one of your arms and eased you to the floor as Tony carefully removed the wire helmet from your head. As soon as it was gone, Bruce gently tucked your head between your knees and instructed you to breathe slowly. 

Above your head, Tony and Bruce glanced at each other nervously. 

When you had frozen the apple in midair, you hadn’t frozen with it, true. But you hadn’t been moving as quickly as a normal human either. It was almost like you’d been slowed down. The scans of your brain had gone wild. Your brain had lit up like a Christmas tree. Almost all areas of the brain were active simultaneously as though you were processing stimuli from both the frozen past, the present, and the future that was moving along without you in it. How you had survived almost a century locked in that eternal struggle was nothing short of a miracle. 

Only one true conclusion could be reached by the two scientists. Though these powers may have once saved your life . . . they were now going to be the death of you.


	11. Moving Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today because I know the science one is a little bit . . . boring. Or at least fluffless. Enjoy!

You paced around the lab, biting your lip. “So, what you’re saying is that it’s not as bad as we were thinking.” 

Tony and Bruce exchanged glances. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what we said.” Tony said, wryly. 

“You said that I could use my powers. That they wouldn’t kill me.” 

“No. We said that you can use them, in short bursts, and they won’t kill you. Quickly at any rate. But you can only hold time for a few seconds in your perceived flow of it before your brain will go into overdrive and shut itself down.” 

“So . . . not as bad as we’d thought.” 

“Darling . . .” Tony sighed, exasperatedly. 

“Tony . . .” You matched his tone. 

Tony turned to Bruce. “Care to help a guy out here?” 

Bruce shrugged. “You seem to be doing well enough on your own.” 

Tony sighed and glanced at the floor, shoulders sagging. “All we’re saying is that you need to be careful. Really, really careful.” He stood and came up to you, putting his hands on your shoulders and looking you in the eye. “Not the way that Cap’ is careful. I mean actually, really, sane person, careful. I meant what I said before, Tinkerbell. You’re family now.” He squeezed your shoulders gently and gave you a loving smirk. For a brief moment, you felt genuine affection for the man, and then he had to ruin it. “Besides, if you died, Bucky would absolutely lose his shit and Cap’ would go back to being a brooding mess of ‘will I save him, won’t I save him’ again and NO ONE wants that.” 

You glared at him, but deep down you understood. Soulmates were rare. Two halves of a single soul. Always meant to find each other. It was very unusual that a soulmate survived long once their other half was dead. To be separated at all meant a fierce agony that tore at one’s soul. You suspected that the only reason either of you had managed to survive the first time was because neither of you had actually been dead. You suspected that the only reason Bucky had been able to bear your separation for as long as he had was because HYDRA had removed every physical and mental link he had to you. His soul might have remembered you, but he hadn’t. You supposed you were thankful for the small mercies . . . But to lose you now? You shuddered at the thought of being responsible for causing him that much pain. You’d just have to do everything in your power to keep yourself alive. 

If that meant putting your powers aside for good? You could do that. There were infinite possibilities in this new world of yours. Women had more opportunities than they’d ever had before. Perhaps you would go on to finish the medical career you had once dreamed of. You had been a field nurse during the war after all and you had enjoyed helping people. Perhaps you’d even go on to become a full-fledged doctor. 

You nodded slowly. The Avengers was one war that you didn’t need to follow your soulmate into. 

“We’ll continue analyzing the data. But for what it’s worth, I agree with Tony.” Bruce shrugged. “Think of it as a blessing, though. It’s not always a good thing to be . . . super.” 

You smiled softly and nodded. “You’re right. Both of you are. Try not to let that go to your head, Tony.” 

“Hey now.” 

“Respect your elders.” You shot back with a grin. Tony had jokingly said that to you once and you’d liberally started sassing him back with it whenever possible. 

“Thank you both. I think . . . well . . . I just needed closure on it. You know?” You asked. They both nodded. You smiled once more and turned to leave the lab. “I should get going before Bucky comes looking for me.” 

“You should tell him what we talked about you know.” Tony said, fiddling with a piece of tech in his hands. 

You nodded. “I will . . . I’ll even try to avoid mentioning just how much danger I was in.” 

You skipped out of the lab, a huge grin on your face despite the worries in the back of your mind as Tony sputtered behind you. 

“JARVIS?” You asked hesitantly. It had been just over a week since you’d come out of your coma and into a new century. You had yet to get used to the robotic AI that controlled the compound. Something about not being able to see the face of the man you were talking to set you on edge. JARVIS was a convenient way of wheedling out information at the drop of a hat, though. 

“Yes, ma’am? How can I be of assistance?” 

“Can you tell me where James is?” 

“Currently, Mr. Barnes is in the communal rooms. Would you like me to request he meet you here?” 

“No. That’s alright. I think I’ll go to him. Thank you, though.” 

“Of course.” JARVIS responded as you moved out of the room. 

You smiled your thanks at the ceiling even though you knew that technically the robotic man didn’t live there and started making your way towards the giant living room most of the team spent their off-time in. You followed the familiar route without thinking too much about it, your mind a jumbled mess of contradictory thoughts. 

There had only been three constants in your life since you’d woken up on the other end of the turn of the century. James, Steve and your powers. Although it had been disorienting to discover that you had them, and that Steve AND James were still alive after all this time . . . your powers had come to feel like a part of you and the fact that you were essentially, and for your own good, virtually cut off from them . . . well . . . you mourned for it. The part of you that you felt you had lost. Still though, your other primary constant remained whole and healthy. James. Oh, how you loved him. It was more than the soul bond, calling you in and pulling you close. The tiny speck of your soul that rebelled against the thought of fate and forced destiny . . . that tiny piece of you had fallen head over heels in love with him too. There wasn’t anything you wouldn’t do for him. Including giving up your other constant. If it gave him piece of mind . . . it was worth it. 

You slowed as you reached the common rooms, suddenly unsure about coming face to face with your soulmate. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. Bucky was your constant. Your family. Your home. Everything else could come and go, but as long as you had him, you’d be okay. 

You took a step into the room, your eyes immediately drawn to the love of your life. 

Bucky was sitting on one of the couches, hunched over as he looked at something in his hands. You approached the couch on silent feet, looking curiously at the object as it slowly came into focus. 

“Oh.” You breathed, glancing down at the familiar photo. 

The edges of the photo had been torn and worn. Water had mixed the greys along the bottom, blurring them together in a hazy mix of lost details. The photograph had clearly been folded up and abused over a long period of time, but the faces you saw smiling back at you . . . those you’d never forget. You leaned over the back of the couch and traced a single finger down the face of James Buchanan Barnes as he stared back at you, unblinking from the photograph of your wedding day. The only photograph of the two of you that had ever been taken. 

“Where did you get this?” You breathed, turning to look at Bucky’s face. His face was mere inches away from yours as he looked you over. He reached up a free hand to tuck some of the whitened strands of hair away from your face. His hand trailed down your neck and across your shoulder, before moving down your arm. He gripped your wrist gently in his and tugged you around the side of the couch before he tucked you into the crook of his arm and turned his attention back to the photo in his hands. 

“When Stevie first got out of the ice, he found out that Peggy Carter was still alive. You remember her? Sharp as a whip with the courage to match?” 

You nodded against his chest and smiled. She had been a good friend when you’d first arrived to the battlefront. 

“After the three of us went missing during the war, Peggy collected mementos of our lives. She kept them all this time. She said she always had a hunch that our stories hadn’t finished writing themselves.” 

“You talked to her?” 

Bucky shook his head slowly. “She had passed by the time Stevie found me. But she gave him everything. After he brought me back, he gave this to me. I’ve had it ever since.” 

The two of you were quiet for a moment as you stared that the smiling images from the past. Both of you had changed dramatically since the day that photograph had been taken. War would do that to a person. It was a sentiment you were both more acquainted with than you wanted to be. 

Bucky broke you from your melancholy thoughts as he gently folded the photograph up and tucked it back into his shirt pocket. “How’d it go?” He asked quietly, stroking your back. 

“As well as could be expected.” You said. You took a breath and decided to be honest. “We . . . experimented a little.” Bucky’s grip tightened and his breathing hitched. You absently reached up and patted his check. “It was perfectly safe, of course. I just . . . waking up seventy years in the future was . . . a shock. And then to find out that I’d done it . . . that I have . . . had these powers and they saved me. And not just me, but all those other men. It’s something out of a fairytale. Rip Van Winkle maybe.” You trailed off for a moment. “I just needed to know what my options were, James.” You pulled away from him so you could look him in the eye. “Thank you for trusting me with this.” You whispered. 

Bucky brushed his lips against yours in response. He pulled away before you could more fully express your gratitude. “I want you to know that I do trust you.” He said seriously. 

You nodded. “But?” 

Bucky cracked a small smile. “Can’t a fella tell the woman of his dreams that he trusts her without her thinking that there’s some kind of side angle?” He asked. 

You chuckled. “But you want to know what exactly happened.” 

Bucky played with your hair, the small smile still on his lips, and nodded. 

You sighed and leaned further into his embrace. “We experimented. I froze time again.” He tensed against you, but you patted his chest gently. “It was fine. I’m okay.” You waited until his heart had slowed back into its regular rhythm before continuing. “Turns out that my powers aren’t as deadly as we thought they were, but they’re still dangerous enough. We’ll have to be careful. Tony says that stress is seems to be the trigger for them. A few seconds here or there won’t kill me, but anything longer than that could have serious repercussions.” 

You were both quiet for a moment as you clung to one another and listened to the soothing sound of your hearts beating almost in sync. 

Finally, Bucky spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence. “Let’s get out of here.” He whispered, as he stood up and tugged gently on your arm. 

You chuckled and glanced at him with excited eyes. “Out of the compound? Unescorted? Why, Mr. Barnes, how very brave of you.” 

Bucky shot you a wry smile. “Stark and Banner said that we ought to avoid stressful situations, right?” He asked, leading you to the elevator. 

You nodded, a smile still firmly in place. 

“I can’t imagine a more stressful place than the compound with its random alarms and its . . .” He trailed off and grimaced “Bird person population.” 

You chuckled thinking of Sam and Clint’s face if they ever heard Bucky say that. 

Bucky smiled down at you fondly. “I wanna take my gal out for a day on the town.” 

You smiled at him with an expression so full of love, Bucky felt his heart skip a beat. How he had ever deserved you . . . 

“I can’t imagine a better way to spend my day.” You said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read the Steve version, you'll have noticed some big changes here.
> 
> Where is this going? What will happen next?
> 
> Can't wait to share it!
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	12. Regrets

Bucky watched you with fond amusement as you stared wide-eyed at nearly everything you passed. He’d been hesitant to take you out of the compound before now because he had been hesitant to let you out in the big, scary world. He knew better than most the horrors that lurked in the shadows. After all, he’d been one of them. 

But you’d been right. You'd always been able to take care of yourself. More than once, you’d come back roughed up and bleeding, but you’d always given as good as you had gotten, and you had ALWAYS COME BACK. 

Bucky kept his hands jammed in pockets of his hoodie as his eyes drifted from your excited form to the street, once again checking for threats. You hardly seemed to notice, and for that he was grateful. He loved that despite the horrors you had also witnessed in the heat of a war neither of you had asked for, you still had a certain level of innocence about you. He prayed that you’d never lose that. 

You raced back to him and tugged on one of his arms, pointing excitedly at a billboard advertising a small diner a few blocks away. “It’s just like the diner back home!” You whispered quickly, your eyes lighting up. “Come on! We’ve got to try it!” 

Bucky found himself laughing as you pulled on his arm, tugging him in the wrong direction. 

“Hold on doll, you’re going the wrong way.” 

You abruptly turned, keeping your hold on his arm, and started tugging him in the other direction. “Do you think they have pie? I haven’t had actual pie in . . .” You trailed off before chuckling lightly. “Almost eighty years. How ‘bout that. I’m practically an old woman.” 

Bucky smirked and touched the white hair framing your face. “You have the hair to match.” He agreed solemnly. 

You chuckled again and swatted his hand away. “That’s because of an unfortunate incident and don’t make fun of it. You know I’m sensitive about it.” You joked. 

“Sure, doll. You’re the most sensitive person I know.” Bucky nodded, going along with your lie. 

You laughed. A genuine, carefree laugh that reminded Bucky of life in the 40s, before things had gone bad. Before you’d both changed. His own lopsided grin inched its way across his face. For the first time since Steve had brought him back from the brink, Bucky felt the stirrings of true peace settling in his soul. There would always be things he missed about the man he used to be. But here and now, with you in his arms in this modern world . . . well . . . things didn’t seem so bad. 

But things had a funny way of changing. 

Bucky wasn’t sure what it was that first tipped him off. But suddenly, his smile faded. His instincts went into overdrive and everyone on the street was instantly catalogued into two boxes in the forefront of his mind, ‘potential threat’ or ‘innocent bystander’, as his Winter Soldier training kicked into action. 

You were outnumbered. 

He might have a chance. But not if he was worried about you. He needed backup. 

His fingers curled around the small panic button in his jacket pocket, the one Steve insisted every member of the Avengers carry whenever they left the compound. The one Bucky had made fun of on countless occasions. 

If Steve had been here, Bucky might have kissed him right on the mouth. 

The button might be the only thing that saved them now. 

Without hesitation, he pressed it. He opened his mouth and turned to you to warn you, but you had already frozen where you stood. Your face was frozen in a grim mask of false courage as you stared blankly straight ahead. 

Slowly, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest, Bucky turned in the direction you were facing felt his heart stop altogether. 

Zemo. 

No. 

Zemo met Bucky’s eyes with a sadistic grin. “At last we meet again, Winter Soldier.” He spat. “It’s time to come home.” 

Your eyes flickered between Bucky and Zemo. In the brief time you’d been awake, you’d seen his picture and you’d come to learn that he’d been one of the long line of psychopaths and sadists that had been tasked with torturing your soulmate. You’d be damned if you let him take Bucky away from you again. 

You tensed by Bucky’s side and Bucky flung a handout to stop you, instinctively recognizing it as a sign that you were mere moments away from pouncing on the HYDRA agent. 

You froze mid-step, but the action hadn’t gone unnoticed. Zemo’s eyes swung to you. 

“I see you’ve found our little gift. A touch earlier than expected, I might add.” You glanced at Bucky who was taking in the entire situation around you. No one in the general vicinity seemed to be moving to help you. Everyone was intently focused on whatever it was they were doing and you realized . . . you were trapped. 

“Leave her out of this.” Bucky snarled beside you. 

Zemo chuckled. “And why would I do that when she holds the key to your complete and total cooperation? How does the saying go? Control the soul, control the man. And she holds your soul . . . doesn’t she?” 

Bucky took a desperate step forward, growling, and this time it was you holding him back. 

“Uh-uh-uh.” Tsked Zemo. He gestured with his head in your direction and Bucky’s gaze swung to you just as several red dots appeared on your chest. His eyes widened in horror. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, soldier. One wrong move and she dies.” 

You stood your ground although your instincts were to run and hide. You had a feeling you couldn’t outrun a bullet. Bucky swung his attention back to Zemo with hatred burning in his eyes. 

“Leave her out of this.” He repeated. 

Zemo paced a few steps to the side and back again as he shook his head. “I don’t think you realize how much time and effort we put into FINDING her. You really think I’m going to leave her out of this? She’s the whole reason we’re here.” He paused in his pacing and looked at Bucky. “It’s time to come home soldier. Now.” 

Bucky glanced at you with a sad sort of desperation in his eyes. Zemo wasn’t going to let him stall any longer. Of that he was certain. He was also positive that if it came down to it, he would rather watch you die in his arms than watch you go through the same torture he’d been put through for the past seventy years. No matter how desperate he was for you to live, he wasn’t willing to watch you become the same monster he was. He couldn’t watch that. He wouldn’t. 

His eyes begged you for forgiveness as he turned back to Zemo. He slowly shook his head. “I’m not going back.” He whispered, using his super hearing to hear the sound of a dozen cocking guns echoing from all around you. 

Zemo’s eyebrows rose in mild surprise as Bucky’s resistance in the face of his soulmates soon-to-be death. “No? Then we’ll try this another way.” A sick grin twisted up on his face and he relished the chance to show you just what kind of monster you’d been bound to. “Longing. Rusted. Furnace. Daybreak. Seventeen. Benign. Nine. Homecoming. One. Freight Car.” 

Bucky’s eyes twitched as the hated words washed over him, but thanks to Shuri, they no longer held the fear they once had. Zemo glanced in mild alarm at the former Winter Soldier as Bucky shook his head, unaffected. 

“I don’t do that anymore.” Bucky said firmly. “I’m not going back.” 

Zemo glanced at you and then glanced at HYDRA’s greatest weapon. The comm link in his ear was abuzz with the warning that the Avengers had breached the perimeter. They were coming, and he needed to leave. 

He made his decision. 

“Then we have no more use for you.” 

He nodded his head once and the sound of a dozen bullets exiting the chamber filled the street. 

“Nooooo!” Without thinking about the consequences, you flung your hands up, freezing time in its tracks. 

Thick warmth coated your lips as you stumbled forward, taking the scene in with a hazy mind. You shook your head once, twice, three times, trying to focus your concentration. 

The bullets were only inches away from Bucky’s frozen form, but behind him, you saw a glimmer of red white and blue and you almost crashed to your knees in relief. 

Frozen nearly a block away in mid-sprint were Steve and Nat. Steve had a ferocious look on his face and his shield was already flying towards you. You stumbled towards it, struggling to keep on your feet as your vision grew darker and the blood poured faster down your face. 

You wrenched the shield out of the air and moved towards Bucky. You forced his arm up, and plopped the shield onto it, before turning around again. You let out a sob. The shield would deflect the bullets. He would live. You ignored the blood coating the shield and your hands as you reached up and cupped the face of your solider one last time. 

“I love you, and I’m sorry.” You whispered, slipping to your knees. 

Your vision began to swim, and you laid down on the dirty sidewalk, curling up at Bucky’s feet. You were so tired . . . maybe you could rest your eyes for just a second . . . 

Everything went black. 

The sound of gunshots rebounding off vibranium registered before the weight of Steve’s shield on his arm did. But Bucky was a soldier twice-over. He was used to making rapid fire connections in the middle of battle. He quickly ripped the shield off his arm and flung it at Zemo, knocking the bastard to the ground. Above him, he heard the rapid-fire blasts of Iron Man and Falcon shooting the HYDRA snipers. 

The next thing that registered was sticky warmth coating his cheek and Steve shouting your name as Nat called for a med-evac. His eyes fell, almost instinctively to your too-still form lying on the ground. His mind was a million miles away as he gently fell to his knees next to Steve who was desperately pumping your chest, trying to keep your precious heart beating. Bucky heard nothing as he leaned down and cupped a hand against your bloody face. He didn’t hear Nat chock back an uncharacteristic sob as she lunged for Zemo and began beating the unconscious bastard within an inch of his life. He didn’t hear when Tony picked up where she left off on the comms, demanding a med-evac NOW. He didn’t hear Steve frantically calling his name, telling him everything was going to be fine and that they were going to save you. 

No. He didn’t hear any of it. 

All he heard was the rattling breath in your battered chest as you breathed your last. 

Then, all he saw was you. Dead on the ground. 

And as the med-evac arrived and he slowly bent down and swept you up in his arms, a final piece of him died too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooooooooof. Sorry. (*Not actually sorry* I love me my angst).
> 
> I thought it was a little symbolic that in both Steve and Bucky's versions, the shield is what ultimately saves their lives. They're both, by nature, the ones normally doing the shielding of others. This time they were the ones getting shielded.


	13. A Loving Future

You groaned and forced your eyes to open. They fluttered against the blinding light glaring into you and you hissed in pain. 

“Doll?” Bucky’s teary voice called out to you. 

“Too bright.” You grimaced. 

The sound of footsteps could be heard and then, a moment later, the lights dimmed. You sighed in relief. 

You opened your eyes more fully and frowned as your vision blurred before slowly coming into focus. You twisted your head until you met Steve’s worried gaze. 

“James.” You breathed, smiling up at him. “Why so glum, sugar plum?” You chuckled lightly. You felt funny. Like you were on top of a cloud. 

Bucky’s face cracked into a relieved smile and he let out a watery chuckle. 

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” 

“Well you’re so often glum and you like plums. It fits.” You raised a hand up to your face and studied it, intently. “Why do I feel so funny?” You giggled. 

Bucky reached over and pulled your hand away from your face, needing to see your eyes. Your open eyes that were brimming with LIFE. He held your hand tightly in his. 

“They were worried about the pain, so they’ve been giving you drugs.” He explained, watching with tense amusement as you struggled not to go cross-eyed. 

You nodded sagely. “Mmm. Can I have them all the time?” 

He growled. “I can’t handle the idea of you needing them all the time doll. You died this time. You know that right? You stopped breathing. Your heart stopped. You were dead.” He choked on the last word and ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. You were confused by his words, but that’s not what caught your attention the most. 

You gasped, your free hand flying up to cover your mouth. “You’re OLD!” You screeched, pointing at his hair. Clear as day, on either side of his face, patches of white could be seen. “We MATCH!” You yelled next, pulling at the white strands of your own hair. Another thought occurred to you almost instantly. “Tony will be so happy!” 

Bucky reached out and pulled your other hand into his grasp as well. “We do match, doll.” He agreed. “And Tony’s over the moon that I’m finally starting to look my age. But that’s not the point.” He reached over and tipped your chin up, waiting till your eyes focused on him again. “Banner and Cho think the only reason you survived is because of the soul bond. They're pretty sure it won’t work again, so maybe stop with the time tricks? For good, this time.” He let out a shuddering breath and dropped his forehead against yours. “I can’t lose you again, doll. It nearly killed me.” 

You reached your hands up and pressed them on either side of his face. You had a feeling this was a serious moment and you needed to be just that. Serious. “I promise I won’t save your life again.” You murmured solemnly. 

Bucky chuckled and pulled away, keeping a hold of your hands. He squeezed them tightly in his. “You save me a million other ways, doll.” 

You smiled contently and leaned back against the pillows. “I do, don’t I?” 

Slowly, very slowly, your mind started to clear enough for a burning question to come to mind. “Did the bad guy get away?” You asked. 

Bucky smiled evilly. “Not. He didn’t. Nat kicked his ass.” 

“I missed it!" You groaned, pouting. 

Bucky stared at you questioningly but before he could ask, a knock sounded on the door. “Come in.” He called, not turning around. 

“Pippin’! Green Bean!” You smiled largely as your two favorite scientists walked into the room. 

“Green Bean?” Bruce asked. 

“I assume I’m Pippin’?” Tony asked simultaneously. 

You giggled again before pointing at Bruce. “Tony calls you Green Bean when you’re not around.” Tony shot you a betrayed look as Bruce folded his arms and sent him an angry one. “And I heard you call yourself a ‘Piping hot mess’ once. It’s your name now. I changed your name.” 

“I see someone’s in a fun mood. What’s got you so chipper, huh, Darling?” Tony asked, plopping down next to you and wrapping you in his arms. He sent Bucky a knowing smirk as the Winter Soldier’s arm muscles bulged. 

“James says they gave me drugs. I like drugs. They make me feel like I’m flying.” 

Tony choked a little before he let out a nervous chuckle. “Right. Well . . . you can have them this once. But don’t do drugs. Drugs are bad.” 

“Like the bad guy?” You asked innocently. Tony groaned and rolled off the bed. 

“Sure. Like the bad guy. Anyway . . . I didn’t come here to do one of Cap’s after-school specials . . . I just wanted to swing by and check on the patient here. Gave us quite the scare, there, kid.” 

You shrugged your shoulders as though you hadn’t a care in the world. 

Tony laughed. “Figures you’d be about as repentant as your soulmates BFF when he royally screws up.” He turned to Bucky. “At least you finally have the grey hairs to match their antics.” 

Bucky crossed his arms and sent Tony a look while Bruce stepped forward and leaned down, shining a light into your eyes. “You cut it awfully close this time. You should have died.” He whispered. 

The serious tones of Dr. Banner managed to pierce through your drug hazed mind, and you picked at the blanket guiltily. “I’m sorry.” You whispered. 

"Just don’t make a habit of it, okay?” Bruce said, patting your shoulder comfortingly. 

“Or do.” Tony cut in. 

“Tony.” Bucky's tone was threatening. 

Tony shrugged it off. “I’m just saying Russian Blue. What good is putting some of my tech in her brain if we can’t play with it a little? Just a little?” 

Your brow furrowed. “You touched my brain?” You turned to Bucky. “You let him touch my brain? You’re supposed to protect it!!!” 

Dr. Banner chuckled at the awkward look the two men shared. He gently called your name, drawing your attention back to him. 

“You had an aneurysm. We had to operate. You were very lucky. We almost didn’t make it in time.” 

“Yeah. And while you were under, I finished my little pet project for you. It was a bit of a rush job since you weren’t supposed to go Supernova on me for at least another couple weeks. I was counting on Mr. Personality here to keep a tighter lid on you until it was done . . . but that’s not the point. The point is, JARVIS and I took a number of scans of your brain while you were frozen and then while you were asleep and then again when we did our little experiment a few weeks ago . . . The point is, I think I developed a way to take the pressure off your mind when you play with the time space continuum. You should be safe to alter time and save lives to your hearts content now.” 

A smile lit up your face. “I’m an Avenger now?” You asked brightly. 

Bucky all but launched out of his chair, starting for Tony. 

“No, no.” Tony quickly backtracked at the murderous look on Bucky’s face. “Nope. We still have a LOT of tests and training and whatnot to do before you’re an Avenger if you even still want to be one when the drugs wear off. People say the craziest things when they’re under the influence. It’s more . . . security for the two of you. You were in a traumatic situation. As a member of team ‘Nightmares’ I’m positive there’s going to be more than one night you freeze Manchurian over there in his sleep after waking up in a cold sweat yourself. This will help take the stress off those moments. You’re not under such a time constraint anymore. Or so I think. Like I said, it was a bit of a rush job.” 

You were still smiling as Tony finished his little speech. You couldn’t help yourself. You threw yourself at him, taking everyone by surprise as you wrapped your arms around him in a tight hug. 

“Thank you, Tony.” You whispered. 

He awkwardly patted your back. “Uh . . . don’t mention it, Darling.” 

You released him, and sunk back into the bed, suddenly feeling very sleepy. 

“Alright. That’s enough excitement for one day.” Bruce said in an authoritative way. “Get some rest, you’ve earned it.” 

He grabbed Tony and dragged him out of the med bay room, leaving you and Bucky alone. 

You reached out and grabbed Bucky's hand in yours. “I’m sorry I scared you James.” You whispered, eyes fluttering closed. 

He squeezed your hand. “I love you.” He whispered back, kissing your head as you drifted asleep. 

You gripped his hand tightly. “Stay with me?” 

“Till the end of the line.” 

You drifted off, with a smile on your face. You had two constants in your life. Bucky and your powers. Both had been taken from you and brought back and both you were going to cling to even more tightly having lost them once. 

You didn’t know what the future held. You might become an Avenger, you might become a doctor. One thing was certain though. Although from the moment you woke up in the modern age, you’d always be a woman out of time; you’d never be alone. You and Bucky would never be separated again. One way or another your soulmate bond had tied you together across seventy years of space and time. It could do it for another couple decades at least. In sickness, in health, for richer, for poorer. Till death did you part. Till the end of the line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! That's the end of the line.
> 
> Thanks for reading :)

**Author's Note:**

> Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is how the movies kinda ruin things when they forced Nat and Banner together when Cap and Nat were the more obvious choice. Not just from a chemistry standpoint, but from a comic-book canon standpoint. So . . . I fixed it.


End file.
